Kind by Moonlight
by rambling procrastinator
Summary: Rogue sneaks out at night...and someone has finally taken notice. He observes her without her knowledge, watches her seemingly cold disposition melt into something else, and witnesses the lengths she would go to for the safety of others around her.
1. And so it begins

Disclaimer: I don't own the show, the characters, etc. etc. etc. I have no money…but you can have my sister. =P  
  
AN: I took some of this from an episode, I know I changed it a bit--ok a LOT, blablabla, yadayadayada, sorry, deal with it. My muse demanded it! Oh, and if there's problems w/ understanding dialect thingies, I helpfully included a glossary/key/thing at the end of this part/chapter/whatever. I know, you just love me! I love you too! Now go push the review button!  
  
The girl carefully opened her window and glanced back into the room. Her roommate was still peacefully sleeping. A breeze curled itself around the girl, drawing her attention to the outside world that beckoned her. She slung her bag over her shoulder and hopped outside onto the branch of a nearby tree. She leaned over and shut the window but for a crack, then climbed down the sturdy oak and paused in its shadow, listening carefully for other people. *It's tahmes lak these Ah wish Ah had Jean's or the Professor's telepathy.* The girl smiled ruefully, and finding herself alone, headed out, away from the stifling confines of the mansion, and into the wooded area surrounding it. As she got farther and farther away from the Institute, she visibly relaxed more and more, failing to notice the moonlight reflect for an instant on a vision tainted red. Eyes narrowed at the young female as she neared a clearing the in the wood and then widened in shock as she laughed and spun around, dropping her bag. *So the ice queen can smile after all.* A smile tinged his features as the figure in the shadows continued his observation of the enigma known as Rogue.  
  
She was wearing her pajamas--black, wide-leg flannel drawstring pajama bottoms trimmed in red and a tight electric blue, long sleeve shirt with a black star on the chest. Of course, the standard black gloves were in place. She had slipped on a pair of socks and Adidas shoes. An inch on either side of her belly button was exposed. It had to have been the most skin he had ever seen her bare other than her face. The strip of skin was pale, and looked like ivory silk in the moonlight. She bent down and retrieved a blanket from her bag and lifted it to spread it on the grass of the clearing. As she squatted down, her already low pants went lower, and he caught sight of a black thong and the tips of some red-orange flames. *Well, well, well…you are just full of surprises aren't you?* A smirk adorned his features. Rogue stood up and yanked her pants up, grumbling some choice words about the effectiveness of the drawstring meant to keep the pants in one place. The moon that night was full, and its light illuminated the clearing as though it were day. *Well, not really,* Rogue mused. *Moonlaht is so different from sunlaht. It's cold and pale. Sunlaht is warm and yellow and happy. And it can be so harsh. Moonlaht is soft and kind…it doesn't take sahdes, and it doesn't glare at you lak the sun can.* She pulled out a pen and a thick hardcover book. It looked like dark red cloth and had no writing on it. She flipped to a page and began to write by the light of a moon. *Ah…I would have never figured her for a journal- type…but it makes sense…she doesn't take her problems to anyone and it probably helps her make sense of them…almost as good as sharing with a friend…but she doesn't have any true friends…if she would just let us get close to her…* He almost sighed in frustration but didn't for fear of discovery. After a time, probably an hour, she slammed the book shut and made a noise indicating aggravation.  
  
"Why can't Ah solve anything?! What did I do to deserve this?! Damn you…damn you…" Her voice broke into sobs as she hugged her knees and rocked herself back and forth.  
  
It took all of his self-control to not go and begin to comfort her. *Easy, man, she'll only push you away. She doesn't trust you. Don't go out there.* It was hard not too--she looked so vulnerable with her head burrowed in the space between her knees and body, her hair hanging over her arms. She looked up, and the heartbroken look on her face was almost too much for him. *I know I don't treat her very well, but nobody deserves to be alone like this…and knowing how much of an ass I can be, I probably contributed to the problem…*  
  
The only traces of her earlier breakdown were the tear tracks running down her face. She looked at the moon, and its light kissed her ivory complexion, making the depths of her emerald eyes sparkle. A breeze caressed her face and she closed her eyes at the touch--the closest thing to a human touch that she would ever feel. It combed its way through the silky strands of auburn and white hair, blowing them in her face and then back, leaving her face bare of the curtain she often wore in front of it. Another barrier she had built. Intangible fingers smoothed away the traces of her tears and a small, sad smile graced her pink lips--for once their natural color. The makeup was yet another barrier between her and the rest of the world. She looked down at clover blossom and picked it, smelling its sweet fragrance, sadly stroked the petals with her gloved finger before taking her right fingertips in her teeth and pulling off her glove. She scrunched her forehead in obvious concentration and tentatively touched the flower with a single fingertip, anxiously waiting the result. The air filled with tension as she awaited the reaction. The figure tensed. Nothing. Not a thing happened. Rogue's eyes were shut tight in concentration. Slowly, one eye peeked open and glanced at the flower, then both eyes shot open in wonder. She let out a whoop of happiness as she held the tiny flower in both hands, staring at this tiny miracle. A cricket chirped, breaking her concentration, and within seconds, the flower was dead--a cruel reminder of her power. Her shoulders sagged in exhaustion and she leaned back on the blanket, resting her head on her bag, then turned over and pulled another book from her bag, at the same time replacing the journal and pen. Using her bag as a pillow again, she opened the book and began to read aloud.  
  
"Your majesty shall mock at me; Ah cannot speak your England. O fair Katherine, blablabla. Pardonnez-moi, Ah cannot tell vat is 'lak me.' An angel--" Rogue stopped reciting the Shakespeare abruptly. "Ah hell. Raht, doing this with a French accent now."  
  
Her strong drawl was replaced with a delicate French accent, and her voice lost some of its harshness as it became more--the only word the figure could use to describe it was feminine.  
  
"Your majesty shall mock at me; I cannot speak your England." She paused, her face in a confused expression. "Pardonnez-moi, I cannot tell vat is, 'like me.' Another pause, this time with a scowl that melted into confusion again. "Que dit-il? Que je suis semblable--semblable! What the hell? Damn French! que je suis semblable--that is so awkward, it sounds like Ah'm gurgling lak a baby--à les anges? Oh wait, we need another person in our scene, who's gonna play Alice? Probably the teacher. Oh well, it's not mah problem. Anyway…O bon Dieu! Les langues des hommes sont pleines de tromperies. Is this all in French? He's lucky I know a bit," she grumbled, then proceeded to skim through the scene. "Blablabla, man Henry is wordy! And Ah have to be attentive through this? Ah thought Ah didn't know English, so why would he say all this? Ugh." Suddenly, she sat up with a shriek. "OH MAH GOD HE HAS TO WHAT?! IS THIS HIS IDEA OF A JOKE BECAUSE AH KEEP TO MAHSELF?! Fuck Ah'm gonna kill him and then they really will all try to kill me."  
  
The figure in the trees smiled and tried to hold in laughter, for Rogue had just discovered what he had already known about--that Henry has to kiss Katharine, not as a director's interpretation, but at the direction of one William Shakespeare. He wasn't worried about getting drained by Rogue's power--now that he had seen for himself that she was beginning to master some sort of control over it, the kiss was a moot point. *This should be an interesting day,* he thought, as he left, his observation done for the night.  
  
Rogue continued to sit on her blanket, emotions flying across her face. "What am Ah going to do?" she queried the sky, the covering her eyes with her gloved hand as her right hand lay in the grass that was tickling the skin in between her fingers. *Wait--tickling mah fingers? What the hell?* Rogue stiffened as she slowly lifted up her hand to see healthy green grass under it. "Oh mah God what is happening?" she whispered, half-fearing, half- dying from curiosity to know the answer. She glanced at her watch, then let out yet another piercing shriek.  
  
"OH SHIT THEY'RE GONNA HAVE MAH ASS ON A PLATTER!" She hurriedly grabbed her things, shoved them into her bag, and sprinted back the way she came, glancing all the while over her shoulder as the sun began to rise. She climbed up the tree speedily and noiselessly opened the window, set her bag inside carefully, and jumped into bed as she shut her eyes and faked sleeping. Five minutes later her heart was still racing as the alarm let its obnoxious ring blare through the room. Kitty smacked it of grumpily and rolled out of bed.  
  
"Hey, Rogue, wake up. We have to go to school. Hey, did you, like, open the window last night?"  
  
"What? Oh, yeah, Ah, uh, got a bit hot, what with all mah layers an' all."  
  
"Oh, right…sorry." An awkward moment passed, then Rogue surprised her young roommate by placing a gloved hand on her shoulder and smiling.  
  
"Don't worry about it."  
  
And so began another day at Professor Charles Xavier's Institute for Gifted Children. 


	2. Fairies, elves, and Santa Clauses

AN: I just want to thank all of you who have reviewed!!! THANK YOU!!!!!! Really brightens my day…especially since this is my first ficcy to be posted…and the first one I didn't drop from lack of inspiration. *blushes* So again, thank you…Oh, and I realized, brilliantly, that I failed to deliver the promised "glossary." Look at the end of THIS chapter for it. Sorry!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Chapter Two~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
'Rogue I want to see you before breakfast.' The thought reverberated in her mind. She stopped in front of double doors and pushed them open.  
  
"Yes oh great and powerful Oz?" She held back a grin. Nothing was going to ruin today. It was as though someone had handed her the key to a whole new life. All she had to do was open the very heavy door--inch by inch.  
  
"I was disturbed this morning--quite early, I might add--by a wave of exuberance and happiness. Upon exploring this further, I found it to be from you, and, you were not in your bedroom. Have you anything to report?" He raised an eyebrow, and a smile tugged at the right corner of his lips.  
  
"No, sir--well, not really…Ah know you and Logan have told me to keep inside at naht, but Ah just wanted to think, so Ah took a walk. Ah thought about what you told me a few weeks ago--that if Ah could take power Ah could control how much Ah take…and…and Ah…Ah guess it's easiest to just show it."  
  
Rogue's eyes were dancing--a complete change from the solemn, dejected girl from yesterday who pushed everyone away. She reached for a lily from the vase on his mahogany desk--freshly cut this morning by one of the younger students who helped to tend the garden. She pulled off her glove and slowly, clearly using every particle of her body to concentrate on the task at hand, reached with her fingertips to stroke a white petal as a slow smile spread across her features. It was a scene out of a novel involving faeries, elves, and other such sprites in a world rife with magic and miracles, with dreams come true and wishes fulfilled. She held the lily in her ungloved hand and smelled it, then pulled off her other glove with her teeth, and clasped her hands about the slender stem, afraid to make any sudden movements, afraid to break the flower, afraid to break her concentration, but still indescribably happy. The professor looked on, basking in the happiness and simple joy radiating from her mind at such a seemingly trivial act as holding a flower and enjoying its scent.  
  
Suddenly, a gasp at the door sounded, and, startled, Rogue looked up. Evan was standing there with his jaw to the floor, his eyes popping out of his head. Scott was leaning casually against the doorjamb, his expression unreadable behind his red-tinted shades, although she thought she saw a small smile flash across his lips. Time froze, the professor still beaming at Rogue like a handicapped Santa Claus, Rogue with a smile of joy on her features, which were still missing their usual layer of make-up, Evan slack- jawed with surprise, and Scott acting as the casual observer. Her concentration broken, Rogue felt what little energy the flower had flow through her hands, up her arms, and then merge with her body. The once pure white lily was now a shriveled brown stalk, a reminder of the implications of her power. But it wasn't enough to ruin her day. This was twice now she had mastered her rogue power--a wry smile crossed her lips, a name to fit her nature. *Although Ah am slightly relieved….Ah was beginning to think Ah had lost mah power after the grass incident.*  
  
Scott cleared his throat. "Sorry…I...didn't mean to break your concentration. I just came to tell you that you're going to miss your ride if you don't leave in a few minutes."  
  
"Of course, I'm sorry to have kept you so long, Rogue. There's probably something you can grab and eat on--"  
  
"It's been taken care of." Scott held up a bagel and cream cheese sandwich and a bottle of Sunny Delight. "I'll--we'll be waiting in the car. Come on, Evan." With that, he turned and walked away. Evan however, was still trying to form a coherent sentence.  
  
"I….you…how…no gloves…oh my God…how…I…uh…"  
  
Rogue pulled her gloves on and grabbed her school bag from the corner of the room.  
  
"Ah practiced. See you later Professor." She left the room poised, the Ice Queen mask securely in position. A few seconds later she popped back, grinned, and grabbed Evan.  
  
"Come on, Evan, you're going to be late for your History test…Professor…Ah need to talk to you later about this…there's more…but Ah don't have time…" She glanced at the clock on his desk. "OH SHIT WE'RE GONNA BE LATE SCOTT PROBABLY LEFT--COME ON EVAN! SNAP OUT OF IT."  
  
"Wha--huh? Late? Oh no! I have a history test!"  
  
The two sprinted out of the Professor's office, down the stairs, and to the driveway, where Scott was impatiently waiting. They jumped into the car, Scott tossed Rogue her breakfast and left at a speed that would have left Lance Alvers in the dust.  
  
GLOSSARY  
  
(in random--most likely chronological order)  
  
tahmes times  
  
lak like  
  
Ah I  
  
moonlaht moonlight  
  
sunlaht sunlight  
  
(are we seeing a trend here--think phonetics: hooked on phonics worked for me!)  
  
sahdes sides  
  
raht right  
  
mah my  
  
naht night 


	3. When teachers think they're Cupid

AN: I don't know the names of their teachers. If you know them and it bothers you that they are wrong, tell me and I'll change them. If you know them anyway, feel free to impart the knowledge on my empty brain. If you couldn't care less, continue reading. And remember kids: REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!  
  
Standard disclaimers apply…for the whole story. Do I really need to reiterate myself?  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Chapter Three~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Rogue groaned as the bell rang, ending her math class from hell. *Fahnally.* She slowly gathered her things and waited until she had a minute left to get to class before she departed from the math room. It was her between-class ritual: wait until the end of each passing period before switching classes in order to avoid the rush and hassle of the crowd. It saved her anxiety attacks as well as lessening the chance of someone brushing against her clothing, exposing skin, and then having someone get drained. She had to sprint to every class, but she figured that small sacrifices had to be made for everything. Checking her watch, she realized she wasn't going to make it to class on time. She was barely a quarter of the way there. Without warning, her legs were swept from under her and a split second later she was in front of her classroom, with Pietro Maximoff opening the door for her and giving a small bow. He failed to hide the smirk on his lips. *What the hell?* Rogue shook her head and sat in her seat. *Wait a minute--Ah don't have literature with Pietro!* She whirled around to look at the silver-haired boy only to discover he was already at the front of class speaking with the teacher. She didn't miss the disapproving look Scott was sending her way, and returned it with a glare of her own. *Asshole. It's not like Ah asked him to carry me to class. Besahdes, we aren't fighting them raht now so what difference does it make. They were mah friends--and teammates--at one point.* Mr. Blackwell cleared his throat.  
  
"Class we have a new student--not new persay, but new to this class. This is Pietro Maximoff and I'm sure some of you know him." Some of the girls tittered, and Pietro flashed his "lady-killer" grin™. Rogue rolled her eyes. "Ahem. You can sit in the seat behind Rogue."  
  
Pietro winked and flashed another trademark smile at her, then quickly walked and sat next to her. *Ah knew it! Blackwell is trying to set me up! Who dahd[1] and made him Cupid! Ugh! Men suck!*  
  
"Oh, and Pietro, we're working on portraying romantic scenes from select dramas. You and…hmm…let's see…Rogue can team up. You two will be doing a scene from Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, acting as Benedick and Beatrice. Since you just came into the class, Pietro, you and Rogue may go last. On a further note, class, to add depth to the project, you will present the scene twice, each time your portrayal of the character must be different. In one instance, your character could be angry. In another, he or she could be sad. This is to work on your analysis and interpretation. One group--possibly two, if we can fit that many in--will go per day, starting Thursday. It's Tuesday, so you have ample time to work on them. They are short scenes people, so don't come crawling to me begging for an extension of some sort. Cindi and John will be first, followed by Carrie and Eli, Bill and Jill, Derek and Allana, Holly and Rob, Gertrude and Melvin, Scott and Rogue, and then Pietro and Rogue. For the rest of today you may discuss your scenes."  
  
*Well, on the upsahde, Ah have enough tahme to learn some sort of control for the kiss. It's only a second, not much can happen in a second…unless you're talking about Pietro…oh God…the scene with Pietro…oh please no…* Rogue frantically flipped through the book Mr. Blackwell had given to her. Pietro leaned forward in his seat and put his mouth right next to her ear, with only a thin layer of hair serving as a barrier.  
  
"I already read the scene, Rogue." His lips brushed the edge of her ear with every word he spoke--even through her hair she could feel the heat of his breath. Shooting tingles were running up and down her spine. "You are going to make all the girls jealous with our kiss."  
  
*Ah knew it. FUCKING BLACKWELL!!!!!* She turned and glared at Pietro, not realizing how close their faces were. "In case you have forgotten, you pea- brained egomaniac," she hissed at him, "Ah could hurt you severely with a kiss--"  
  
"Rogue, I didn't know you cared," he cut in with a sugary voice.  
  
"--and Ah don't think you want people to know about us."  
  
"Us?"  
  
"Mutants, idiot!"  
  
"They wouldn't know about me if I collapsed."  
  
"Oh, forget it!"  
  
"Rogue, if it matters so much, why not just have one your X-Geeks whip up something like what Robin had in Batman and Robin when he kissed Poison Ivy? That way you'll still be covered, and nobody will be the wiser."  
  
She stared at him, speechless.  
  
"You are a GENIUS!" She leapt up and was about to give him a hug (against her better--hell, any--judgment, and before her brain could make her the recipient of a mental slap), except for the fact that when she jumped out of her chair she crashed into Scott, and he wrapped his arms around her reflexively. Remembering her powers, she placed her hands on his chest and pushed herself away--to no avail: his arms were securely wrapped around her slender frame, holding her close enough so her chest touched the bottom of his and her nose came dangerously close to crashing into the smooth line of his pectorals. This worked only to push them farther off balance as Scott struggled to stay upright while at the same time keep the frantic girl from falling as well. She gave another push and the two succumbed to gravity, while Rogue braced herself for the impact of the hard floor on her back and for the imminent crush that would follow from Scott's body. Scott quickly twisted in the middle of the air so she landed on top of him, and with a terrific crash the seemingly endless battle to Earth's strong forces was over. The wind knocked form both of them, Rogue lay sprawled over the young man's tall frame, his arms still wrapped around her, her hands now delicately resting on his chest, where her face was currently buried as well. She lifted her head up and saw the entire class--complete with the delusional teacher--staring at them.  
  
"Ow…dammit." Rogue shook her head to clear it, and found herself face to face with Scott, who was wearing a rueful smile. She could see his eyes through the red-tinted shades. They crinkled at the corners, indicating that he was close to laughing. Then she became very conscious of his body heat and of the length of his body pressed along hers--along her entire body. She realized she was only inches away from his lips, and she did the predictable thing--she blushed crimson, jumped up, and backed into a desk. *Thank God Ah didn't wear a skirt today.*  
  
"Sorry….Ah panicked…Ah….you're ok raht?"  
  
"Next time remind me to just let you fall," Scott answered as he got up, a small, friendly smile on his face to assure her that he wasn't trying to be cruel or snide.  
  
"That was quite impressive…I finally figured out what is different about you today Rogue," Pietro said--with his ever-present smirk. At her cautious, yet confused look he continued. "The make-up. You are going au natural today. I must say that that is a very becoming shade of rose on you."  
  
*Oh no! Ah knew Ah forgot something! This is awful--nothing covering mah face, what am Ah going to do?* Rogue's hands flew to her face as she blushed further, and she murmured an "Oh no" that was only loud enough for Pietro and Scott to hear. A weight settled on her shoulder. She looked up.  
  
"You'll be fine for one day without make up. Besides, you look fine, so don't worry about it, ok?" Scott looked down at her, the standard unreadable expression on his face again.  
  
"Did you hit your head on the floor? Ah need to have something covering mah face!" Rogue whispered fiercely at them, unaware that they were still the center of the class's attention.  
  
"You'll be fine for a day Rogue--besides, there's only two periods left, and I know you'll be fine through at least one of those because you have study hall." He whispered back.  
  
Pietro narrowed his eyes at Scott's hand on Rogue's shoulder. "Yes well this is all fantastic and now that we've established that Rogue doesn't need to wear make up," he said testily, earning a glare from Rogue and a look of death from Scott, "Rogue and I need to rehearse our scene."  
  
"Hold it right there Maximoff, we need to rehearse our scene. We go before you."  
  
"Both of you stop right now before this gets blown out of control. Pietro, Ah'll work with you after school. Scott, Ah live in the same building as you and Ah practice you know what with you almost every day. You can work with me any tahme and you know it."  
  
The boys continued to exchange glares, and Rogue sighed and sat down as the bell rang, waiting for the minutes to tick by.  
  
  
  
----------------------- [1] died 


	4. In deserted halls

AN: Wow, I have to say, getting reviews is almost as good--if not as good as--getting presents! Your reviews are what keep me sticking with this story instead of just filing with its millions of brothers and sisters in the cabinets of "future/laid aside projects." So I give my sincere thanks to those of you who read this and donate those few minutes to review. THANK YOU!!!! Oh, and I have to say this before I die, to MizzMarvel: I'm in Much Ado too!!! Actually, I'm the director for it and I play Margaret because we're short on cast members. I've cut most of my lines. Mwahahaha. Beatrice is my favorite Shakespeare female character, but the scene with Henry and Katherine is so beautiful, it's up there with my fav Much Ado scenes. I was so psyched when I saw the episode of Evo that used it--now we all know where I got my main idea from…yes I know changed it almost completely but…oh well…now, before I end up writing a page of me babbling instead of my brainchild (although at this point I don't think it counts as a brain anymore…maybe squashed eggplant...ewww…BUT I don't care…yay for senioritis! ON WITH THE STORY! Oh yeah, and feel free to exercise your right to tell me to shut the hell up: click on the Review button! I have been up for the last 44 hours doing homework and I wrote Chapter 3 at around 1 or 2 am because I was sick of doing homework and I've had half a two-liter bottle of Coke! This is going to be one HELL of a chapter! MWAH!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Chapter Four~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Rogue checked her bag to make sure she had all the books she needed and slammed her locker shut. Today had been a good albeit strange day. Strange in a frustrating way. First Pietro came out of nowhere to give her a "lift" to class, then Scott--Scott of all people! Scott-I-love-to-make- myself-feel-superior-you-aren't-good-enough-to-touch-me-I'm-almost-as-big-a- dickhead-as-Duncan-high-and-mighty-leader-Scott. *Well…maybe he's not that bad…but he's definitely not the comforting, touching tahpe. He's the pointing, commanding, stubborn, occasional asshole tahpe. And as for Pietro…Ah don't know what has gotten into his head…he's up to something, Ah know that for sure. He doesn't go around carrying random girls just because nobody will see them.* Rogue sighed, her brow wrinkled as she walked lost in her thoughts. *Great, now Ah'll have to be even more on guard than normal. Why can't they just leave me alone? Ah dress and act lak this for a reason you know. No touch, no hurt. People just don't seem to get it. And Ah guess Ah can forget about tryin' to fade into the background. It's hard being me.* A breeze blew against her back, blowing her hair onto her face. She ran a gloved hand through the short strands, trying to get them in some sort of order as she continued walking. *Wait--a breeze in the school hallway?* This thought came a second too late as she walked into someone for the second time that day and began to fall backwards, the person having apparently been standing there as she just walked into him. *Ah wonder if mah powers make me accident-prone?* This someone was even quicker than Scott had been, and in less than a millisecond she was pressed against a male body. It wasn't Scott--while this guy was taller than her, he wasn't quite as tall as Scott, and he was leaner while still retaining defined muscles, as Rogue could feel. She realized that she had at some point flung her arms around his neck, and her face was nearly touching his neck. She jerked away, but the arms around her waist tightened and held her more securely. She was staring into a pair of piercing ice blue eyes. They twinkled at her, lightening with inner laughter. A strand of white hair was hanging in front of his face, tickling her cheek. A mouth with perfect lips began to move.  
  
"Rogue this position is difficult enough to hold without you squirming about. Although…I think the reward is well worth the effort." Pietro smirked at her, covering a strained look. He held her so it looked as though he was dipping her in a dance--it screamed finesse. *Oh he's a smooth one all raht.* She had fallen rather quickly and was nearly dead weight, with her back bent in an arch, sending her cleavage dangerously close to his face, which was brought very close to hers as she attempted to pull herself up using his neck. He quickly shifted his arms so as not to drop her. The deserted halls echoed her shriek as he did so.  
  
"Would you relax? I'm not going to drop you--as long as you stop squirming, you're not making it any easier." He chuckled. She froze, the thought that had been pushing and shoving its way through her panic was finally processed: she was locked in an embrace with Pietro in the deserted halls of school, he was staring down at her cleavage, and his face was less than three inches from hers. A faint blush stained her cheeks.  
  
"It's all your fault, you were standing in front of--"  
  
"What's going on?" Scott was standing fifty feet away, his stance challenging. Rogue was positive his eyes were narrowed behind his shades.  
  
Pietro straightened, bringing Rogue with him as he did so, but did not let his hold on her loosen. At a glance it would have looked as though Pietro held the girl in a protective embrace from the other young man. A closer look would reveal the possessiveness in his hold on her, and a battle of wills over a girl who was lost and alone in the world.  
  
"Nothing that concerns you Summers."  
  
"That's a member of my team, so I'd say it does."  
  
Pietro narrowed his eyes and the two glared at each other. Then tension was beginning to reach breaking point. Rogue placed her hands on his biceps to push herself away, but felt them--they were in a permanently flexed position, revealing his tension. *Well Ah guess its useless to try and get free now. Ah'm not as strong as him…wow, he has nahce arms…Whoa where did that come from? Come on brain, this is PIETRO. Arrogant, self-confident Pietro. Must be from no sleep. This is such bullshit.*  
  
"Alraht, that's enough. Ah know you two hate each other, but you need to get over it. Scott, Ah have to go practice with Pietro. Ah'll see you at the Institute." Saying so, Rogue pushed herself out of Pietro's embrace, grabbed his hand, and pulled him in the direction of the nearest exit. Scott watched them go, and only when they were out of sight did he relax, fists unclenching, eyes opening more, shoulders relaxing instead of flexing. A flash of emotion crossed the normally stoic leader's face. It could have been interpreted as worry, but that was ridiculous. Scott only cared about winning, about himself, and about doing anything to achieve his goals. *Worry? I don't know…but Maximoff better watch what he does, because I will be watching.* 


	5. The hunt is on

AN: Someone brought up the point about whether Rogue's powers extend to all living things, like plants and stuff.I don't know, but for the purpose of this story, they do. I mean, it makes sense, because if she can drain a human, why not a flower? It lives, breathes, and functions on some basic level.anyhoo.that's all. Kisses to all who review, and keep on reviewing!! Oh, and I still have NO CLUE if this is Scogue/Scott and Rogue/Rott (that last one sounds quite amusing, I'm sure all you anti-Scott people will enjoy that) or Rietro/Pietrogue/Pietro and Rogue, whatever you want to call it.It's like a pendulum, I keep on swinging. You can usually tell by chapter who I'm in favor of at the moment. Maybe I'll NEVER resolve it-- hahaha! No I'm kidding I will! (For fear of losing the few who read this-- ack.) As always, I love any and all input and I love you! MWAH! REVIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEWWWWWW!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Chapter Five~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
As soon as they were outside, Pietro grabbed Rogue's bag, slung it over his shoulder, picked up Rogue, and sped off. She gasped, and in 2 seconds she was back on her feet in the middle of a clearing in a forest in some unknown location. The surroundings were rather unfamiliar. *It's probably on the other sahde of the U.S. knowing Pietro.*  
  
Pietro threw their bags under a tree and grabbed his copy of Much Ado about Nothing. Rogue realized they were in the clearing she had frequented last night--and many nights before then. It was warm. She contemplated on taking off her transparent shirt or rolling up the legs of her dark blue jeans, but decided against it. She took out her copy and flipped to the first highlighted section, then noticed another highlighted bit about ten pages later. Her brow scrunched in puzzlement. *Which scene are we supposed to do?*  
  
Pietro barely managed to hold in a chuckle as he watched her from his position. He was laying on his stomach on the grass, propping himself on his elbows, his chin held up by his hands. *She's just too cute--especially when she's confused . . . or angry . . . or surprised . . . This is going to be fun . . . not to mention interesting.*  
  
"Blackwell said we were going to be working on several of the Benedick/Beatrice scenes. He said he couldn't choose just one, so we're doing a medley-type thing. I think he was just being a fuck and giving us more work.speaking of which.what did you do to get on his bad side? Teachers don't just randomly assign massive amounts of work to people who don't try to piss them off . . . and that goes double for the students who try the hardest to not be notice . . . like you." He cocked his head to the side, waiting for her response.  
  
At first she had looked up, startled to see that he was watching her, then had quickly looked away to hide the faint blush that she had felt spread across her cheeks. Now she sighed helplessly. "Ah don't know . . . Ah think he's trying to play Yenta with me or something. Maybe he fancies himself the future Director of Social Life for something."  
  
*Blackie playing matchmaker? Now THAT is an interesting piece of news . . . but it fits . . . and who better than Rogue? Well it looks like we have matching ideas . . . heh, never thought I'd say this but good job Blackwell. This makes my agenda a bit easier . . . but not by much, because it seems I have that idiot Summers to contend with . . . but he can be taken out. But what is his interest in Rogue? I must find that out before I make any large moves to get rid of the waste.*  
  
"Okay, why don't we just read through some of this and figure out how to present it. Come, bid me do anything for thee."  
  
"Kill Claudio."  
  
"Ha! Not for the wide world!"  
  
"You kill me to deny it. Farewell. Wait, if Ah'm leaving, we should be acting it out. Get up." She nudged him with her foot.  
  
"Okay, let's take it from your line. The one you just said."  
  
"You kill me to deny it. Farewell." Rogue turned to go, but Pietro, quicker than the blink of an eye, grabbed her forearm and pulled her back, turning her around in the process, closing the space between them in the process. "Pietro--"  
  
"Stage directions. Tarry, sweet Beatrice."  
  
"Ah am gone, though Ah am here; there is no love in you. Nay, Ah pray you let me go!" Rogue pulled away, or attempted to. This only succeeded in making her wriggle against Pietro's body. He had wrapped one arm around her and was holding her close, using the other to hold the script. She stopped abruptly, realizing how compromising the situation was. Pietro laughed and looked down at her.  
  
"Ah seem to keep getting into awkward situations, don't Ah? Ah suppose today is just not my day."  
  
"Beatrice--"  
  
"In faith, Ah will go!"  
  
"We'll be friends first."  
  
Rogue looked up at him sharply. Pietro was watching her intently, still holding her. His steady blue gaze burning into her emerald one.  
  
"Friends?"  
  
"That's what I said."  
  
"You don't hate me then for leaving? I thought you were all mad at me," she said quietly, unable to tear her eyes away from his.  
  
"We could never hate you. We were mad we lost you, and that you stopped talking to us, that you dropped us like we never mattered, and turned your back on your friendship. We were pissed as hell that those bastards took you. But we knew it was probably for the best. You weren't getting anything out of staying with us. There you have a better chance of helping yourself, and that is more important."  
  
Rogue was silent for a bit, and looked down. "Ah'm sorry," she mumbled.  
  
"It's okay, we forgave you a long time ago."  
  
The two young people stood silent, the taller still holding the shorter close with one arm, until slowly, the girl reached around with one arm--the one not connected to the script--and mimicked the boy's position, turning the hold into a hug. He released her then, and arched an eyebrow, effectively ending the moment.  
  
"Well, Beatrice?"  
  
"You dare easier be friends with me than fight with mine enemy."  
  
"Is Claudio thine enemy?"  
  
"Is 'a not approved in the haht[1] a villain, that hath slandered, scorned, dishonored my kinswoman? O that Ah were a man! What, bear her in hand until they come to take hands; and then, with public accusation, uncovered slander, unmitigated rancor--O God that Ah were a man! Ah would eat his heart in the market place!" Rogue was striding angrily around the clearing, intuitively blocking her broken speech. She threw her hands-- well, hand--up as if beseeching God to miraculously perform a spontaneous sex change. Pietro looked on admiringly, then cut in.  
  
"Hear me, Beatrice--"  
  
"Talk with a man out at a window! A proper saying!"  
  
"Nay, but Beatrice--"  
  
"Sweet Hero, she is wronged, she is sland'red, she is undone."  
  
"Beat--" Pietro tentatively approached her.  
  
"Princes and counties!" Rogue whirled on him and stabbed her gloved finger accusingly at him, advancing on him as he backed away. "Surely, a princely testimony, a goodly count, Count Comfect; a sweet gallant surely! O that Ah were a man for his sake! Or that Ah had any friend would be a man for mah sake!" Rogue turned away from him. "But manhood is melted into cursies, valor into compliment, and men are only turned into tongue, and trim ones too. He is now as valiant as Hercules that only tells a lah,[2] and swears it. Ah cannot be a man with wishing; therefore Ah will die a woman with grieving."  
  
She made as if to go, but Pietro caught her hand.  
  
"Tarry, good Beatrice. By this hand, I love thee." He looked at the moment the ideal Shakespearean lover: a sweet, sincere, beseeching look on his face--an innocent, pure lover. However, our young lover was none of those. Rogue stiffened as she felt his thumb run across her knuckles and begin to make idle patterns on the top of her hand. He shifted his hold on her hand so her hand curled over his thumb; his fingers rested on top of her hand. A devilish smirk passed across his features. Rogue never noticed it--she was held captive by twin orbs of pale silvery blue and by little jolts of electricity from his fingertips on her hand that were stemming from his hand and shooting to her toes, down her back, up and down her neck.he brought her hand in front of his face. Time had slowed in the clearing. They stood in the middle of it, the sun's rays spotlighting the couple as the they came through the spaces between the trees and leaves on its journey downward. Pietro uncurled her hand by sliding his thumb upward, her fingers pointing to sky, enclosed in the warm grasp of Pietro's hand. Her hand was on now on the level of Pietro's face and he tilted his head, and kissed the palm. A lover's kiss. The touch of his lips burned Rogue through her glove, and the fire spread throughout her body. *Ah feel oddly detached, lak Ah'm watching this scene play out and it's someone else's hand . . . Oh mah God did he just touch his tongue to mah glove? No, it's just me--he wouldn't do that . . . Ah think. Oh hell, what is wrong with me? With him? He's lost it.* Her face alternated between crimson and white.  
  
Pietro slowly removed his lips from her hand. He wore a wicked smile that would have sent most females into swooning fits or have melted them into puddle of mush. It was the sort of grin that would scare any sane person shitless from its implications, but for all members of the female population was particularly deadly: it screamed "I am dangerous" and "I am a threat to your safety" but was irresistibly, undeniably sexy. It was the sort of smile one would imagine on a vampire, which is undoubtedly sex personified. Something so dangerous it's sexy, and you would willingly say, "Here's my neck, bite it." Rogue's view of it, however, was obstructed by her hand, which she was almost positive was shaking. Since her entire body, however, felt like a quivering mass of jello, she couldn't tell very well.  
  
"Ah . . . Ah . . . Ah should go, it's almost tahme for dinner.Ah need to go.homework and everything . . . we can finish later . . . Ah . . . gotta go . . . later." Rogue whirled around, yanking her hand out of his hold and grabbed her backpack. *Anything to get away from his eyes. Those intense eyes. Anything. Ah felt like they could see past the bottom of my soul.* She ran towards the Institute and Pietro watched her go, the smirk still on his face, and clearly visible, although the one for whom it was intended never saw it.  
  
*Yes . . . but not to worry . . . you will fall under it as well.you can't hide forever, Rogue . . . you can't push us all away . . . I'm nothing if not persistent. You are my challenge . . . my delightful little onion that has layer upon layer . . . and believe you me when I say I will find out what is on the inside. You will be mine--your masks you wear, your blushes, your kisses . . . they will be mine. Running away only makes me more intent on getting what I want. The chase is half the fun. And I always catch what I hunt.*  
  
"Always." A second later, the only sound came from a bird, twittering in puzzlement as the clearing spontaneously became empty.  
----------------------- [1] height [2] lie 


	6. Bleach blonde prettyboy speed demons

AN: I don't know why I'm sticking this in here. It's five to midnight.instead of doing homework and sleeping, I'm writing chapter 6. I stuck in chapter 5 less than 5 minutes ago (hence me wondering why I'm putting this in here). I just wanted to say that even after I upload my stories, I check them over for big errors (grammar stuff, forgetting to put something in dialect, etc.) that the computer check missed, so if you notice them in there, they're usually gone by the time the next chapter is up (if I catch them). Sometimes on the check I change something, like the wording of a sentence I decided I wasn't entirely pleased with. Nothing major, so if you're reading this and you haven't read the previous chapters recently you aren't missing anything big (I just added in some stuff in chapter 4 trying to make the idea I was trying to convey clearer--it was like 5 words at the end of a sentence.) If I make any big, important changes, I'll put it in gigantic font and in capital letters. Yes.I'm rambling aren't I? I think this chapter will be a long too.I didn't realize how long they get--especially from copying Shakespeare. Bla. Oh, and that reminds me:  
  
I DO NOT OWN SHAKESPEARE OR ANY OF HIS WRITINGS. I forgot to put that disclaimer in before. I don't own anything else. I don't own X-Men: Evo or the characters or anything else.  
  
Oh yeah, and any suggestion, opinions, etc. about the story are ALWAYS welcome (including flames! I know, I'm desperate) on either the Review board (which I check a GAZILLION times a day, I think I have them memorized- -actually, no I don't) or you can mail them to Aversion16@aol.com or BlueFyre68@aol.com.  
  
And you can now leave anonymous reviews! Sorry, didn't know it was set like that!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Chapter Six~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Rogue sighed as she reached the front door. She took a few minutes to calm herself, and to regain a somewhat normal breathing pattern and a normal pulse. Her entire psyche had been upset by Pietro. *Damn him.what game is he trying to play?* She paused, shaking her head, trying vainly to clear her head. *A clutter mind projects, and the last thing Ah need is for Jean to nose around trying to help. She's nahce and all but Jesus Ah need mah space, you know? Lots of space. A little personal bubble of space that nobody violates and is the size of New York City . . . maybe he was just into the role . . . Ah hell, Ah'm not gonna figure it out anytahme soon . . . think soothing thoughts . . . cool breezes . . . spring rain . . . the color blue . . . Pietro's ahs[1] are blue . . . such an unusual shade--icy blue. They're more lak a pale blue with a silver cast. Pale blue-grey . . . and they flicker--there are shadows in the endless depths of his winter sea eyes. What is he hiding? Dammit this is not soothing!* Rogue yanked the door open, and it hit the wall with a bang, arousing the interest and curiosity of the other residents of the house. Heads popped around corners, people appeared in the halls and doorways. A young girl fell through the ceiling into the arms of a boy who randomly appeared under her at the crucial moment with a small flash of smoke and the smell of brimstone.  
  
"FUCKING HELL!" And with that Rogue slammed the door and stormed up to her room, slamming that door as well. Kitty and Kurt exchanged looks and he teleported to Rogue's room, still holding her roommate, with a sound effect that was perfectly described by the word "bamf." Scott had stridden quickly into the doorway with the first slam, concerned over possible trouble. Now he narrowed his eyes behind his shades, his mind quickly pinpointing the source of Rogue's anger to be Pietro. *I will have his fucking head on my wall.* He turned on his heel and followed the same path Rogue had chosen, only to be halted by a friendly redhead.  
  
"Give her time to simmer down.you need it too, otherwise you will only make the situation worse. She's distressed over issues you really can't help her with."  
  
"She's projecting?" Scott's mouth settled into a grim line. Jean nodded, her forehead wrinkled.  
  
"It has to do with Pietro, but that's easy enough to figure out without telepathy--we all knew where Rogue was going after classes. I can't figure out what he did--he's playing games? No . . . yes . . . she's not sure . . . he's confusing her . . . I think he's toying with her emotions or something . . . right now she wants to beat the crap out of him . . . she's . . . lost that thought . . . she's not projecting as much . . . looks like Kitty and Kurt are helping to calm her down. Professor probably got more from that than I did. Look, you can't do anything unless he directly pisses you off, and you know provoking a fight is a big no-no--"  
  
"I'm not provoking one, he is," Scott grumbled.  
  
"Just let the matter resolve itself. For once, this is not anything mutant-related. It's a completely normal issue experienced by everyone."  
  
"You know more than you're letting on."  
  
"Of course I am. But it's none of your business so go do something useful. Do your homework. For Christ's sake, calm Evan down. He's going to kill someone with those things." Jean turned and gracefully walked in the direction of Rogue's room.  
  
Evan did need to be calmed down. Spikes were currently protruding from his arms and growing by the minute. He was pacing angrily around the entryway, ranting about Maximoff, and everything he was going to do to him when he laid his hands on him.  
  
"He won't be able to run for weeks! The sun will shine through him from all the holes! Stupid fucking bleach blonde idiotic pretty-boy speed demon from Hell!"  
  
Scott sighed. *If he spikes the house what he wants to do to Maximoff won't even compare with what I'll do to him.*  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ In Rogue's room +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
*Bamf* Kurt set Kitty down as they looked around. The room was still intact, with a very angry Rogue pacing back and forth muttering to herself. Her rage was nearly palpable.  
  
"Rogue, was ist los?[2] Did the Dummkopf[3] do something to you? Rogue? Hallo?" Kurt waved a hand in front of her face, then shrugged.  
  
"Rogue? Hey Rogue? We can't, like, um, help you if you don't, like, snap out of it . . . Rogue? Grrrrrr . . . ROGUE!" Kitty was reaching the end of her rope--she was dying of curiosity, and as the saying goes, curiosity killed the cat.  
  
Rogue jumped. "What?"  
  
"Like, what the hell is bothering you? If he did something--"  
  
"No, it's nothing lak that, he's just . . . ugh! He's being such a . . . such a . . . guy!" Rogue gestured helplessly, frustrated with her inarticulateness. Kitty looked pointedly at Kurt.  
  
"Was? Oh, ja, I just remembered, I have to . . . go . . . uh . . . do homework . . . Ja . . . Tschüs[4]!" With a puff of smoke, he was gone.  
  
Rogue sighed then sat on the edge of her bed. "Kitty, Ah don't know what the hell is going on . . . maybe Ah'm imagining it . . . Ah don't know . . . Ah--" A knock at the door made both the girls look up, startled.  
  
"Can I come in?" A feminine voice asked tentatively.  
  
"Sure, the more the merrier," Rogue said sarcastically, opening the door to reveal Jean.  
  
"Look, I know that you like to have your privacy and space, and we aren't the best of friends, but you were . . . well . . . you were projecting . . . a lot . . . and . . . I thought I could help." Jean looked away uncertainly.  
  
"Ah figured Ah was . . . Ah couldn't calm mahself down. Come on in . . . as it is . . . you probably can help a lot more than you think you can," Rogue said with a slight smile, her first since the morning. Jean joined Kitty on her bed, and Rogue pulled an unopened bag of chocolate covered pretzels from her bag, while Kitty reached in a small, unnoticeable refrigerator for cans of Coke.  
  
"So what, exactly, is the problem? All I know for certain is that you're confused, angry, embarrassed, and Pietro and kissing had something to do with it." Kitty choked on her soda and had to be pounded on the back for a few minutes.  
  
"Well, it's sort of complicated . . . it started this afternoon in literature when . . . " Rogue told the two girls about getting paired with Pietro, his actions in class and in the hallway after school--downplaying Scott quite a bit (after all, this was about her problems with Pietro, not with Scott). They listened wide-eyed and open-mouthed at Rogue's tale of the rehearsal. When she finished, they just sat back.  
  
"Wow. That . . . wow . . . like . . . what the hell is he thinking? He can't, like, take advantage of you just like that!"  
  
"I agree with you, Rogue. I think he's up to something. But I think it's too early to tell. I'd try to read him for you but he--for some odd reason-- is amazingly difficult to get anything from. I think he somehow has mental shields. Do you suppose he has telepathic abilities as well? That would be . . . well . . .not good, just because it's Pietro. God, can you imagine him reading minds? He would be unbearable, especially around girls. Ugh . . . sorry, tangent there . . . but I honestly don't know . . . my first guess would be that he likes you . . . but this is Pietro . . . there has to be something more than that to it." "Yeah . . . that's what Ah think . . . It's just so frustrating. Ah can't let him touch me! Ah don't want to hurt him--even though he can be an egotistical asshole. It's hard . . . Ah'm so used to everyone staying the hell away . . . and then he just desahdes[5] one day that he's gonna get close and break nearly every rule Ah've set for mahself about contact. Ah don't know what to do . . . how to react."  
  
"I'm sorry . . . I . . . sympathize. I don't know how it is . . . I can't imagine how it must be--not being able to touch. And I know you push us all away because you worry about us. But you can't just starve yourself like this. Because that's what you are--starved. For feeling, for touch . . . for love, affection, whatever you want to call it. Without it you're lost, alone. I've felt it come from your thoughts on your really bad days--don't worry it's not noticeable unless you're close, and then it's like a tickle at the back of the mind. You can't worry about everyone all of the time. Contrary to appearances, we can take care of ourselves, and we take care of each other." Jean moved to Rogue's bed.  
  
"You think we are afraid of you, disgusted by you. You think we think you are a freak of a mutant, and for these reasons we shun you. You don't want our pity. But you're wrong. We're trying to get close without breaking your need, you desire for privacy . . . for space. We want to know you Rogue, we want to touch you, to make you happy, because you desperately need it. Nobody should have to carry this burden alone, and we want to help you. A touch can say so much more than a look or words. This," she placed a hand on Rogue's shoulder, "is the comforting touch of a friend, of someone who cares." Kitty sat on Rogue's other side and gave her a hug.  
  
"Rogue, we, like, don't like to see you so alone, even if you act like that's how you want it, we know that that's just, like, what you're used to, and what you are like used to dealing with. We're your teammates-- your friends. We're here, to like, help you."  
  
Rogue, to her complete humiliation, completely broke down and sobbed into Jean's shoulder while they rocked her and soothed her. Jean sent a mental message reassuring the Professor that everything was now fine and he didn't need to worry--just girl problems, nothing major. Jean met Kitty's eyes over the shoulders of girl who had been lost in a cold, dark, lonely world and had just been doused in sunshine and warmth, and they nodded slightly, a tacit understanding to protect their friend against anyone who would harm her. Because, for all her supposed hard, cold exterior, Rogue was a fragile Southern flower. ----------------------- [1] eyes [2] What's the matter? [3] Idiot [4] Bye (informal short way of saying it) [5] decides 


	7. Defenses are go

AN: Woohoo, time for chapter seven! I'm so proud of myself, that I've made it so far…Ack, I can't believe I haven't even made it to Scott and Rogue rehearsing THEIR scene. So much to write. *sigh* Oh, yeah, chapter six, NO CLUE where it came from. I didn't know Jean was going to be all amazingly nice and everything. Ugh, how irritating. I WANT TO BE IN CONTROL DAMMIT! Stupid Muses, taking over the body so they can have deep, meaningful discussions in my story. I am all in favor of a random raunchy sex scene with Pietro right now! All that sexual tension needs to come to a peak….unfortunately, we're not even a quarter up the mountain, so maybe later in the far distant future. This story-writing business is slow-going, eh? I'm updating as fast as I get these chapters out, which all depends on if I know what I'm writing. Luckily for all of you I seem to be on a roll…which means I will have one HELL of a case of writer's block later. *sob* I'm going to start taking votes from the Review Board…it seems that we have very few Scogue shippers out there. *squints into the audience* We'll have to see what comes out of my twisted mind. Bwahahahahaha! Maybe it will randomly turn into Todd/Rogue (ewww *shudders* YUCKY)…maybe not. Okay, okay I'm gone. But 1st: THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWS I LOVE YOU AND YOU ARE THE REASON I UPDATE OBSESSIVELY! MWAH! BIG SMOOCHIES!  
  
I don't own jack diddly. Not Shakespeare, Henry V, Much Ado About Nothing, X-Men, X-Men: Evolution, nada. Just the story.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter Seven ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Rogue stood before the double doors leading to the Professor's study. They were large doors, and had a way of making even the most self-assured person feel like an errant child. *Ah, hell, he probably already knows Ah'm standin' out here.* Rogue knocked and opened the door a crack.  
  
"Come in, Rogue."  
  
She walked in and sat in one of the red-cushioned mahogany chairs facing his desk.  
  
"Am I correct in assuming this is about what you mentioned this morning…that there's more to your control?"  
  
"Yeah…Ah…Ah don't know what happened. Ah was looking at the scene Ah have to do with Scott and Ah was frustrated about…about it--we have to touch--so Ah just sort of stared at the sky…Ah was wondering what Ah was gonna do…and then Ah just sort of let mah thoughts wonder, and Ah realized that Ah could feel the grass under mah hand--Ah hadn't put mah glove back on. Ah lifted up mah hand…the grass was still there…alahve.[1] Ah didn't know what to think. Ah thought maybe Ah had shorted them out or something, but then they worked in here when Ah showed you."  
  
The professor steepled his hands together and closed his eyes in thought. After a few minutes, he spoke.  
  
"I have a few theories, however, it is too early to determine whether any of them could be true. If it happens again, tell me, otherwise, go about as you have been."  
  
Rogue nodded, and rose from the chair to leave.  
  
"Oh, and Rogue?"  
  
She paused and turned.  
  
"Please try to keep the nocturnal activities at a minimum, at least on school nights. I don't want this to adversely affect your studies."  
  
She gave a small smile and left the room, only to nearly collide with Scott, who was about to enter it. *Ah think that klutziness is definitely a sahde effect.* She walked past--or would have if he hadn't touched her shoulder. She leapt three feet into the air at the unexpected contact.  
  
"Do you have something to say?" she asked, giving him one of her patented looks-of death.  
  
"After dinner. In the library. Sounds good to you?"  
  
"For what?"  
  
"Our scene." He arched an eyebrow. "Or have you forgotten after your fun-filled afternoon with Maximoff?"  
  
Rogue gritted her teeth together. "No, Ah did NOT forget. Ah'll be there. And as for what Ah do on mah own tahme, piss off."  
  
She walked away and Scott watched her, a small smile crossing his face. *And all defenses are go. Eat that Maximoff. You won't catch her off- guard again.* With that thought, he entered Professor Xavier's study.  
  
----------------------- [1] alive 


	8. Fairy godmothers and first kisses

AN: Sorry that last one was so short, it seemed like a good time to cut it off. The end just came naturally. So to appease the "raving" mob, here is Chapter 8! *tosses it at the readers and runs for her life, cowering from fans of a certain couple* Oooo, now you HAVE to read it, because otherwise you won't know who will be pissed and why! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I love to be evil. Yay me. Oh, and let's all cheer for me, I got into U of I at Urbana for Engineering and that's where I'm headed. WOOHOO!!!! College life, here I come! *makes a beeline for Urbana, only to be yanked back by all the evil AP and IB test people.* NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SAVE ME! Without further ado (hahaha much ado? Further ado? Get it? Okay that was pretty awful), here is chapter 8.  
  
All standard disclaimers apply, with special reference to Shakespeare, Henry V, Much Ado, and X-Men: Evolution.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter Eight ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Dinner was the usual affair. People sat down, ate, left, and the day's clean-up crew began to eat. Rogue, however, was not in attendance, and Kitty, Jean, and Kurt exchanged questioning looks at one another. Kurt actually 'bamfed' up to Kitty and Rogue's room in the middle of the meal to see if she was there. The room was empty. Jean opened her mind and searched for Rogue's thoughts. No luck.  
  
"She must be sleeping…really soundly. If she doesn't show up b curfew, then we'll worry. She's probably just gone off to be alone," Jean surmised to the other two, who nodded and left to do their homework. Jean went up to her room to go call one of her girlfriends.  
  
Scott stepped out of the shadows of the hallway, a frown on his face. *Rogue wouldn't have just left…or would she? Maybe she's waiting in the library.* He walked down the hall purposefully, opening the double doors at the end of it.  
  
A fire was usually burning in the fireplace, to add to the opulent comfort the library offered. There was one lit now, burning brightly and merrily crackling. Two forest green armchairs faced the fire, with a table in between them. Scott walked over stood with his back to the fire, looking at the contents of the left chair. It held a young girl who looked to be near seventeen. White strands fell over her face. She was curled up in the chair, looking small and vulnerable. Her eyes were closed, her breathing regular, signifying deep sleep. In her lap lay a copy of Henry V. Scott smiled and brushed the strands away from her face and tucked them behind her ear.  
  
"An angel is like you, Kate, and you are like an angel," he whispered as he slid his arms beneath her knees and behind her back. He picked her up carefully, the book still cradled in her lap, and began to carry her out of the library, up the stairs to her room. He walked cautiously, smoothly so as not to disturb the fragile bundle in his arms.  
  
He placed her on her bed and put the book on her bedside table. He knelt next to the bed, leaned forward, and ran a hand through the auburn silk strands, feeling them slip between his fingers. He hardly dared to breathe, lest he wake her and get drained, not to mention beaten. *Although I don't think it would be all that difficult to hold her off--she's a little bit of a thing…so delicate and fragile beneath that stone exterior…she has no idea how much she means to the team…to us….to me.* He leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers--so brief and light a touch that, had she been awake, she could have mistaken it for a light breeze--and then drew back, with a puzzled frown now gracing his features. He knew from his previous experience on the receiving end of Rogue's powers that coming into contact with her bare skin made you feel like something was sucking your energy, your brain, your thoughts, everything away. The longer and more she touched, the more she got. A light touch would just take away your powers. Complete contact could kill if she held on long enough. This was why Scott had kept the kiss so light and brief--at best she would be able to shoot optic beams for a little bit. However, on this particular occasion, the sucking sensation was absent, completely gone. It was like kissing a normal girl, or at least a mutant whose powers didn't resemble a mutated vampiric gene or piece of DNA.  
  
The kiss had left his lips tingling--his body ached for more, and his heart was screaming at him to take advantage of the moment--who knew when he would get another chance to do this and not get drained dry? Throwing all of his common sense to the winds, he bent forward again and kissed her lips again. This was not brief or light. It was simple, pure, and born from passion. His lips pressed down on her gently, firmly, then brushed across their smoothness once, twice, and again. With effort he pulled himself away from the sleeping beauty and stood, looking at her with an unreadable expression on his face, then walked out of the door. He gave himself a mental shake. *Well what did you expect, Summers? For her to wake up and proclaim her undying love for you like a fairy tale? Welcome to the real world, please leave all fairy godmothers, spinning wheels, and Prince Charmings at the door.*  
  
Inside, Rogue opened her eyes. She could have sworn she felt someone trying to wake her up or something. *Where am Ah? In mah room? How did Ah get here? Oh, god, Scott is gonna be pissed that Ah wasn't in the library.* She got out of bed, looked around for her book, and, seeing it on the nightstand, grabbed it. She glanced in the mirror on her way out and was transfixed by what she saw--her, without make up, her lips a rosy hue much redder than their normal pink. She touched her lips, and a confused expression settled itself on her face. *Ah'm not gonna figure out that any tahme soon--I should go.* She walked out of the door and saw Scott at the end of the hallway.  
  
"Scott," she called. He whirled around, surprised. "Ah'm sorry, Ah must have fallen asleep and slept walked or something back to mah room. Ah can rehearse now, if you're ready."  
  
"You fell asleep in one of the chairs. I saw you and carried you to your room. It's not a big deal."  
  
"Oh." Her cheeks turned pink. "Thank you."  
  
He grunted in response and they began to walk to the library. As they reached the doors, Scott looked at her curiously and suppressed a grin. *I have to do this. It's just too good to pass up.*  
  
"The others were concerned when you didn't show up for dinner…and you look a bit disheveled…is there something you are hiding from us Rogue?"  
  
"Ex--excuse me?"  
  
He inwardly grinned. *No wonder Kurt plays pranks all the time.* "Well, you mysteriously disappeared, your appearance is not as immaculate as usual, and your lips are unusually red, which could be from kissing. So tell me Rogue, with your newfound control, are you hiding a boyfriend?"  
  
"Me, hahding[1] something? Ah…" She drifted off, then her eyes narrowed. "Wait a minute, how the hell did you know about mah control over my powers?"  
  
"I saw you this morning. Evan and I both did, remember? I imagine he's told everyone by now unless he's momentarily forgotten about it, which is possible. Nobody said anything at dinner. But you are dodging the question."  
  
She blushed. *Ah have got to get this blushing thing under control. That or wear more make up.* "Ah have nothing to hahde. Ah don't know what you're talking about," she said crisply, and breezed past Scott into the library. He didn't bother to restrain his chuckle.  
  
"After you, my lady Katharine." He bowed. She responded with the one- finger salute.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"Fair Katharine, and most fair! Will you vouchsafe to teach a soldier terms such as will enter at a lady's ear, and plead his love-suit to her gentle heart?"  
  
"You majesty shall mock at me; I cannot--where's your book?" Rogue's voice abruptly switched from high-bred French maiden to her natural drawl.  
  
"I memorized my lines. Continue."  
  
They stood in front of the fireplace facing each other. Scott had decided that they would begin with the sincere approach, taking the lines at face value and expressing the love and uncertainty that was clearly being felt by the two characters. Rogue had agreed, although Scott's burning gaze was beginning to make her want to rethink that idea. Scott's sunglasses, while tinted red, still permitted her to see through them, if she was close enough. Right now, she was, and the sincerity and honesty in his eyes was shooting through her straight into her soul. *Ah think Pietro has a rival for 'most intense gaze.'*  
  
"You majesty shall mock at me; I cannot speak your England."  
  
"O fair Katharine, if you will love me soundly with your French heart, I will be glad to hear you confess it brokenly with your English tongue. Do you like me, Kate?"  
  
"Pardonnez-moi, I cannot tell vat is 'like me.'"  
  
Scott took her free hand in his two and held it there, kissing the knuckles before he spoke.  
  
"An angel is like you, Kate, and you are like an angel." He kissed her hand again, and made eye contact. His eyes were seething with a variety of emotions--all passionate, all sincere. Rogue held in a gasp--just. It was what some would call a soul-searching look: pure intensity. Her breath was taken away.  
  
"Que--Que dit-il? Que je suis semblable à les anges?" [2]  
  
"Oui, vraiment, sauf votre grace, ainsi dit-il."[3] Jean's voice broke in as she stepped into the library and stood behind the chairs. Scott didn't miss a beat, although Rogue was hard put to stay in character.  
  
"I said so, dear Katharine; and I must not blush to affirm it."  
  
"O bon Dieu! Les langues des hommes sont pleines de tromperies." Rogue took her hand and turned away from him.  
  
"What says she, fair one? That the tongues of men are full of deceits?" He turned towards Jean.  
  
"Oui, dat de tongues of de mans is be full of deceits--dat is de princess."  
  
"The princess is the better Englishwoman. I'faith, Kate, my wooing is fit for thy understanding: I am glad thou canst speak no better English; for, if thou couldst, thou wouldst find me such a plain king, that thou wouldst think I had sold my farm to buy my crown." Scott turned away from her and walked around. Now, as he said these next lines, he strode around to face her, and took her hands in his, not heeding the script that fell to the floor.  
  
"I know no ways to mince it in love, but to directly say, 'I love you:' then, if you urge me further than to say, 'Do you in faith?' I wear out my suit. Give me your answer; I'faith, do; and so clap hands and a bargain: how say you, lady?" Scott intently searched her face for some sign of what she would say to his suit, then released her hands.  
  
"Sauf votre honneur,[4] me understand vell."  
  
"Marry, if you would put me to verses or to dance for your sake, Kate, why, you undid me: for the one, I have neither words nor measure; and for the other, I have no strength in measure, yet a reasonable measure in strength." He paced around the room, pausing from time to time and turning towards Rogue, as if beseeching her to take his suit. "If I could win a lady at leap-frog, or by vaulting into my saddle with my armour on my back, under the correction of bragging be it spoken, I should quickly leap into a wife. Or if I might buffet for my love, or bound my horse for her favours, I could lay on like a butcher, and sit like a jack-an-apes, never off. But, before God, Kate," Scott stood in front of Rogue again, "I cannot look greenly, not gasp out my eloquence, nor I have no cunning in protestation; only downright oaths, which I never use till urged, nor never break for urging. If thou canst love a fellow of this tempter, Kate, whose face is not worth sun-burning, that never looks in his glass for love of anything he sees there,--let thine eye be thy cook. I speak to thee a plain soldier: if thou canst love me for this, take me; if not, to say to thee that I shall die, is true--but for thy love, by the Lord, no; yet I love thee too. If thou would have such a one, take me: and take me, take a soldier; take a soldier, take a king: and what say'st thou, then to my love? Speak, my fair, and fairly, I pray thee." He stood in front of her, tense, his hands open before him, pleading.  
  
"Is it possible dat I sould love de enemy of France?" She raised an eyebrow, turned and walked a few steps away from him.  
  
"No; it is not possible you should love the enemy of France, Kate: but, in loving me, you should love the friend of France; for I love France so well, that I will not a part with a village of it; I will have it all mine: and, Kate," he walked and placed himself behind her, determined to not be rejected, "when France is mine and I am yours, then yours is France and you are mine."  
  
"I cannot tell vat is dat." Her brow furrowed in confusion.  
  
"No, Kate? I will tell thee in French; which I am sure will hang upon my tongue like a new-married wife about her husband's neck, hardly to be shook off. Je quand sur le possession de France, et quand vous avez le possession de moi,--let me see, what then? Saint Denis be my speed!--donc votre est France et vous êtes mienne. It is as easy for me, Kate, to conquer the kingdom, as to speak so much more French: I shall never move thee in French, unless it be to laugh at me." He hung his head.  
  
"Sauf votre honneur, le Français que vous parlez, il est meilleur que l'Anglais lequel je parle."[5] She waved her hand idly in his direction and looked away.  
  
"No, faith, is't not, Kate: but thy speaking of my tongue, and I thine, most truly-falsely, must needs be granted to be much at one. But, Kate, dost thou understand thus much English,--Canst thou love me?" He held her shoulders and lowered his head so his eyes were directly on level with hers. His eyes were overwhelming. She was drowning in their depths. *What color are they anyway? So much emotion…he should be an actor but for the tiny problem that he has to wear shades the whole tahme….where does he get this intensity from? Ah mean, we all know he's focused, and determined, and a stubborn jack-ass, but still…he feels what Henry is feeling--it must be from Jean, how he can't make her see how he feels. Pietro's looks don't hold a candle to this.*  
  
"I--I cannot tell," Rogue said and turned away, cheeks burning.  
  
The grandfather clock chimed ten times, signally their curfew. Jean gave them a short applause.  
  
"I love that scene. It was beautifully done. I'm off to bed. Thanks for the show." She departed with a secret smile, leaving the crackling fire and the two lovers. Rogue turned to face Scott, then stepped back, noting the closeness of their bodies.  
  
"Ah should go too…Ah'm a bit tired," she said quietly, and turned to go.  
  
"Goodnight, sweet Kate," Scott murmured after her as he watched her leave, his eyes boring holes into her back. When she closed the door he stared into the fire, contemplating and calming the broiling storm of emotions he was feeling.  
  
----------------------- [1] hiding  
  
[2] Okay, my French is rather rusty from taking German the last four years, but it means something to the effect of: "What said he? That I bear semblance to the angels?" (that's a near direct translation, and coincidentally into semi-Shakespearean English. Go me!)  
  
[3] "Yes, truly, save your Grace, that was as he said."  
  
[4] "Save your honor"  
  
[5] "Save [or except, weird old French idioms--bla] your honor, the French you speak, it is better than the English I speak." 


	9. The joys of machismo

AN: Thanks so much for the reviews! I love the input and feedback, etc. etc. etc. To resolve all of the Rietro/Scogue dissension, I have decided that whatever I make this fic, I will write another one for the other couple, just cuz you people brighten my day! Keep the feedback coming! Gimme more!!!!! *foams at the mouth and drools*  
  
Standard disclaimers apply for everything.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter Nine ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"BLEEPBLEEPBLEEPBLEEP BLEEPBLEEPBLEEPBLEEP BLEEPBLEEPBLEEPBLEEP BLEEPBLEEP--bleargh." The last sound was the alarm clock crashing against the wall, courtesy of Kitty's well-aimed throw.  
  
"I don't want to get up," Kitty moaned.  
  
"Fucking goddamn alarm clock and fucking school in the fucking morning. Ah hate it," Rogue said sleepily, eyes still shut. Some people are just not morning people.  
  
"This is your wake up call! Are you up? Just checking--Rogue, Kitty get out of bed. Rise and shine, it's a beautiful day!" Jean came in, having been selected the female "morning monitor"--whose job was to go around to all of the girls' rooms and make sure they were out of bed so they'd get to school on time. Kitty rolled over and ended up falling out of bed while Rogue raised her arm and flipped her off. Jean merrily went on to the other rooms, and a succession of groans and thuds were heard from other rooms, fading away as her proximity lessened.  
  
"Fucking morning people."  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
'Taptaptap…taptaptaptap…tap…taptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptap…tap--'  
  
"AHEM!" The teacher cleared her throat loudly and glared around the classroom. Rogue hastily stopped tapping her pencil. *God, math is boring…but it sure as hell beats literature. God Ah hate literature…no, Ah just hate Blackwell…oh, what Ah wouldn't give for five minutes alone with that man. Does he even care that he is royally fucking up mah life? No, of course not. Oh, let's just throw the loner with two of the most wanted boys in the school--who coincidentally hate each other. THAT will solve all her social problems, and everyone will be just peachy keen. Grrrrr….*  
  
'CRACK.' Rogue looked down at her pencil, which she had been twisting around in her hands. *…oops…*  
  
'RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING.'  
  
*Oh yay, tahme for literature. Excuse me if Ah don't jump for joy.* She gathered her things and began to walk through the masses, when a voice sounded close to her ear. Determined to not let anyone get to her, Rogue didn't give in to her immediate reaction, which was to jump--it cost every ounce of self-control she possessed. On the inside her knees were buckling at the husky voice--it reminded her of sex…pure, raw sex.  
  
"Did I mention that you look fantastic today?"  
  
"No. What do you want?" She glanced down at herself. She was wearing indoor soccer shoes and wide-leg flares that were slung low on her hips. Nothing special--they were several years old and had faded with time and care. She wore a long-sleeved dark royal blue shirt, and a black T-shirt over it. The T-shirt was made of some odd stretchy, silky material and had a large star shape on the center of the chest made from star-shaped studs. A black leather tri-pyramid (three rows of small pyramid-shaped studs) studded belt and her black leather gloves completed the outfit. *Nothing special. It's not the normal skirt and transparent shirt combo…Ah guess the shirts are sorta taht[1]…and jeans do hug me on mah hips and ass…maybe it's that annoying inch of skin that keeps on showin' between mah shirts and pants…Ah don't look bad if Ah do say so mahself…nah…he probably wants something…but what?*  
  
"Well?" she said impatiently, pausing in front of the door to Blackwell's classroom.  
  
"Rogue, I'm cut to the quick," Pietro dramatically placed a hand over his heart, his blue eyes twinkling at her. "How could you possibly think I'd want something?"  
  
"Because you're Pietro, and you don't give anything out for free. With you, everything has a price." *One that most girls are willing to pay…but this one can't…and if it were different…well, Ah don't know what it would be like. You confuse me, and you're dangerous. Why won't you leave me alone?* She walked inside and sat down, missing the smirk Scott shot at the disgruntled Pietro, who sent a glare back at him. The placement of the seats was such that Scott sat next to Pietro, who was behind Rogue.  
  
"Okay class, you know the drill. Get in your groups and work on the scenes. If you have any questions, come to me and I'll be glad to answer them." Mr. Blackwell sat down behind his desk and began to grade papers.  
  
"Are you ready?" The seductive male voice sounded in her ear, and she jumped. Rogue could have sworn that she knew exactly what was on his mind. *But with him, you never know.*  
  
"For what? So, Rogue, learn your lines yet?"  
  
"During lunch--"  
  
"It doesn't matter, Summers, she's rehearsing with me."  
  
Scott took a step forward, challenging Pietro. "Oh really?" An eyebrow eloquently arched.  
  
Pietro stood and looked at him, eyes narrowed. "Does that bother you, Summers?"  
  
*He can say a million things with that eyebrow…can eyebrows be sexy? Ah wonder…* Rogue gave herself a mental slap. *Get with it, idiot. This is Scott. That's Pietro. Good. Now that you've gotten their names maybe you want to do something?* She stood and looked at them, her posture uncertain.  
  
"No, but it might bother you, because she's not going near you--she's rehearsing with me."  
  
They stood facing each other in the narrow aisle, with matching aggressive stances. Their voices were steadily rising, and the classroom was beginning to pay attention to them. Rogue looked around. *This is ridiculous.*  
  
"We're rehearsin' out in the hall Mr. Blackwell, we need more room." She grabbed each by the arm, dragged them out of the classroom, and shut the door. Then she put on her best "You are in deep shit and Ah am getting pissed" glare.  
  
"What the hell do you two think you're doing?! This is JUST a class assahnment![2] You're actin' lak a bunch of toddlers fahtin'[3] over a new toy! Look, during class, Ah won't rehearse with either of you if you're gonna try to kill each other. Just, Ah dunno, memorahze lahnes[4] or somethin'--it's what Ah'm gonna do."  
  
They faced her and hung their heads, completing the two-year-old image. She crossed to the far wall and sat down against it, looking over her lines. They leant against the opposite wall and watched her, shooting glares at each other.  
  
"You can't make her not practice Summers--she'll fail and you wouldn't want that to happen to your precious teammate, would you?" Pietro hissed at him.  
  
"You remember this Maximoff: I see everything, I know everything, and I will kick your ass if you harass her again." Scott shot back in a whisper.  
  
Pietro smirked. "It's not harassment if she wants it or doesn't mind it." The bell rang, and Pietro was gone in the blink of an eye. Scott gritted his teeth, then stopped Rogue as she went to enter the classroom to get her things.  
  
"We have a Danger Room session this afternoon. Don't forget."  
  
Her eyes widened in surprise--she had forgotten At least Ah think Ah forgot…Ah definitely don't remember it…oh shit…rehearsal with Pietro…he'll just have to deal, Ah guess.*  
  
"Raht…Ah'll be there."  
  
Scott resisted the urge to indulge in a bout of evil laughter. *Sometimes it is SO good to be the leader.* He stopped Evan and Kurt in the hall.  
  
"Hey guys, surprise Danger Room session after school. Be there." Then he turned on his heel and left two very disappointed guys.  
  
"Aw man! This bites. Hey, Maximoff, where do you think you're going? Get your ass back here and fight like a man!" 'RIIIIIIIIIIING' "Oh shit, I'm late for math!"  
  
"You aren't alone in that, mein Freund!"[5] Kurt glanced around, grabbed Evan's arm, and the only sign that was left of their presence in the hall was a small cloud that smelled faintly of sulfur.  
  
Another AN: TADA! Another chapter…I'm sorta suffering from writer's block here, so if this wasn't up to my usual standards, I'm sorry. *angrily kicks at gigantic block* OW DAMMIT! *grabs a sledgehammer and brandishes it wildly* MWAHAHAHAHAHA!  
  
Oh yeah! And let's rejoice because Rio updated no place to call home. YAY! *bows to the master*  
  
----------------------- [1] tight  
  
[2] assignment  
  
[3] fighting  
  
[4] memorize lines  
  
[5] my friend (male) (as if that wasn't obvious--Freundin = female friend, though, for future reference) (they can be platonic or romantic though, here it is OBVIOUSLY platonic) 


	10. Angel from Hell

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter Ten ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Rogue closed the door of her locker, only to see Pietro, who had been standing behind it with yet another of his patented to-die-for smirks pasted on his face. She jumped about ten feet in the air.  
  
"Pietro! What the fuck are you tryin' to do, scare me outta twenty years of mah life?"  
  
"I just came to escort you to our rehearsal, my dear Lady Disdain."  
  
"Well you can stop smilin.' Ah have a session after school today. Ah forgot about it."  
  
Pietro glared at some invisible enemy. "A session today? How convenient…It's not a big deal, we won't end up going to some time next week anyway." He shrugged, and Rogue mentally breathed a sigh of relief. *Ah don't want to deal with an excited Pietro.*  
  
"Okay, so I'll see you later." She turned to the door, but Pietro was standing there--directly in front of her. She glanced to her other side, which was Pietro-less. *Should Ah even be surprised when these things happen--what--* Her thoughts were cut off as Pietro leaned down very close. Her chest was just barely rubbing against his body, and she was madly fighting the urge to close the minimal amount of space between their bodies- -the contact was drawing her in like a moth to a flame. She looked up to be confronted by steely blue eyes filled with a turmoil of different emotions that alternately darkened and lightened their color. Rogue was so transfixed by the chaos in his eyes that she didn't realize how close his face was to hers until he spoke and his breath hit her parted lips and nose. It smelled faintly of mint, and was warm--or was that the creeping blush that had been betraying her so frequently the last couple of days? His eyes were heavily lidded, the storm inside now reaching near-breaking point, darkening their color to a silvery cobalt.  
  
"I'll see you sooner than you think." His lips slowly crept even closer. At some point he had placed his hands on her hips. *Sneaky…* was all Rogue could get out. Her heart hammered in her chest, her head spun with the sexual haze Pietro had created. Just above her lips, less than a millimeter away, Pietro stopped the descent to what would seem the logical result.  
  
"A lot sooner." He released her, and was gone. Rogue stumbled outside and tripped down the stairs to the ground, where she stood on shaky legs, trying to get her thoughts in order and her heart rate to slow down to somewhere near the normal range.  
  
"Come on Rogue! You know how Scott gets when anyone is like, you know, late." Kitty shuddered and approached her. "What's wrong you look like someone walked over your grave?"  
  
Rogue simply shook her head and walked with Kitty to the parking lot. They passed Lance's car on the way. Kitty shot a small smile at Lance, who nodded in acknowledgement. The two had a history of friendship before they had come to the city and Kitty had gone to the Institute. He was talking to Pietro, who looked like a dark angel. His knee-length black coat was blowing in the wind, a black ribbed long-sleeve shirt hugged his lithe form, accenting the broadness of his shoulders, the muscles in his upper back and chest. He wore black pants that were perfectly tailored to his form, although they were straight-legged, and black shoes completed the outfit. *Definitely some sort of black angel…or demon.* His pale hair provided contrast, and his eyes were staring into hers, twin icy fires whose color she could discern even from this distance. Eye contact was only broken when Kitty grabbed her arm as she faltered when her foot hit something. The tire of Scott's car.  
  
"Are you okay, Rogue? You nearly walked past the car." Kitty looked at her with mild curiosity. *What was she staring at?*  
  
"What? Oh, yeah, Ah'm fahne.[1]" Rogue stared at the ground and got in the car. Jean was fiddling with the car radio and apparently hadn't been paying attention. Scott looked at her with a blank expression, then drove away.  
  
*I see everything.*  
  
----------------------- [1] fine 


	11. Everything I Touch I Break

AN: Sorry Chapter 10 was short, it was my brief little Rietro interlude. My Evil Sexy Pietro muse was bugging me because he wasn't getting enough Rogue time. *looks at what Pietro wrote, eyes bulge* You and Rogue are NOT doing that! Bad Evil Pietro! This is rated R, not XXXX! Jesus. He's getting out of hand, I need to go and soothe my Scott muse. He's trying to fry Pietro. Hey, don't do that, I need him for the rest of the story! *swats at Scott*  
  
THANKS SO MUCH TO ALL OF YOU, ESPECIALLY MY DEDICATED REVIEWERS WHO HAVE BEEN WITH ME FROM THE BEGINNING! YOU MAKE THIS WRITING STUFF WORTHWHILE!!!!  
  
Standard disclaimers apply. Don't own Manson or Stabbing Westward or their lyrics or songs. So sue me.HEY I WAS KIDDING! =P  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter Eleven ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Rogue flopped on her bed, still in her towel. The long, hot shower she had just taken had made her even more tired after the brutal session they had just had.  
  
"Oh, God, I'm never moving again." A curiously shaped bundle in Kitty's bed moved around, startling Rogue.  
  
"Jesus! When did you get in here?"  
  
"I phased up . . . I was so tired there was like NO WAY I was going to walk up from the Danger Room's showers all the way up here. Walking on air, though, I have to say, is SO COOL!" She was silent for a moment. "That took way too much energy. No more getting excited for me."  
  
Rogue chuckled, then began to slowly get into her pajamas--the same black flannel pajama bottoms, but this time a black tank top. The session and the shower had gotten her heated up. *Ah wonder if mah body temperature will ever go back to what it was before? Maybe Ah'll spontaneously combust . . . that would be nahce . . . anything would be better than feeling lak turned-over mush at this point.*  
  
"G'night, Rogue."  
  
"Naht." The room was silent but for the light spring breeze coming in through the window, bringing with it the sounds of crickets and rustling treetops.  
  
"Rogue?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"What do you think of Kurt?"  
  
"Well.what exactly do you mean? Ah think he's nahce.he's a lot lak me in some ways.he cares a lot about us. It's good that he's fahnally found somewhere where he could be accepted. He needs to be loved."  
  
"Yeah . . . but doesn't everybody?"  
  
"Ah suppose," Rogue said reluctantly.  
  
"Do you think he's cute?"  
  
"He's lak a brother to me, Ah can't answer that. Why the sudden interest?"  
  
"It's not sudden . . . I was just getting your opinion. Doing girl talk, ya know?"  
  
"Uh huh . . . of course you were."  
  
"If you tell anyone . . . I'll . . . do something . . . I'll dye your white hair hot pink in the middle of the--" she yawned--"night."  
  
"You can't even stay up that long."  
  
Kitty only gave a light snore in reply. Rogue lay in bed, staring at the poster of Marilyn Manson she had put on the ceiling above her bed. One of his songs came to mind . . . the refrain echoed over and over in her head before transforming itself into another song from the same CD, Coma White.  
  
There's something cold and blank behind her smile She's standing on an overpass In a miracle mile 'Cause you were from a perfect world A world that threw me away today Today to run away A pill to make you numb A pill to make you dumb A pill to make you anybody else But all the drugs in this world won't save her from herself Her mouth was an empty cut And she was waiting to fall Just bleeding like a polaroid that Lost all her dolls You were from a perfect world A world that threw me away today Today to run away A pill to make you numb A pill to make you dumb A pill to make you anybody else All the drugs in this world won't save her from herself[1]  
  
She sighed and turned over onto her side.  
  
You were from a perfect world A world that threw me away today Today to run away A pill to make you numb A pill to make you dumb A pill to make you anybody else All the drugs in this world won't save her from herself.  
  
A tear leaked from the corner of her eye, then slowly trickled its way down to her pillow.  
  
A pill to make you anybody else  
  
Another tear followed from her other eye, and traveled over the bridge of her nose, where it slowly fell to the pillow. Twin pools of misery.  
  
I can tell you what they say in space That our earth is too grey But when the spirit is so digital The body acts this way That world was killing me That world was killing me Disassociative The nervous systems down The nervous systems down I know I can never get out of here I don't want to just float in fear A dead astronaut in space Sometimes we walk like We were shot through Our heads, my love We write our song in space Like we are already Dead and gone Your world was killing me Your world was killing me Disassociative I can never get out of here I don't want to just float in fear A dead astronaut in space The nervous systems down The nervous systems down I know[2]  
  
More tears followed, and one large, hiccuping sob that Rogue stifled with her hand clenching balled up sheets.  
  
I can never get out of here I don't want to just float in fear  
  
She curled in a ball as silent sobs shook her body. Tears streamed down her face.  
  
Your world was killing me Disassociative.  
  
She sat up and hugged herself, still in a ball, trying to calm herself before one of the telepaths picked up on the distress signals she was sending out. Then she jumped out of bed, tears still falling down her face. She grabbed a pair of socks and pulled them on, then pulled on her shoes. She walked to the window, pausing only to grab her bag, shove her journal, a pen, her CD player and a few CDs inside; she snagged a blanket, her leather jacket, and a pair of black gloves on her desk before opening the window, not caring if she woke Kitty, and letting herself fall from the tree branch to the ground, where she landed in a crouch, listening for other signs of life. Then she walked quickly to her special place, putting on her headphones as she did so and pressing play. A wry smile crossed Rogue's face as the first strains of music reached her ears. *How appropriate.*  
  
The more I feel The more I die Nothing to kill Nothing inside Everything I touch I break I want to break you down I scratch and tear Until it bleeds I do not want I only need I only need I only need Everything I touch I break I want to break you down No where to turn[3]  
  
A pair of eyes narrowed as they watched Rogue leave the shadow of the Institute, before the body they were attached to followed with stealth an assassin would envy.  
  
A breeze rushing on its way to the Institute was nearly halted by the sight of an upset young woman striding towards a clearing it had passed before. A split second later it switched directions and settled behind some trees, its eyes of pale blue gleaming at the sight of her small, low-cut tank top and the skin it was exposing. Camisole would have been a better word for it. The breeze did not see the flicker of red across the clearing, nor did the flicker sight the breeze. Their attention was riveted by the young woman who gave in to her emotions and sobbed her heart out on the blanket, listening to Stabbing Westward. The young thing that had somehow captivated both of them. The young girl who was sobbing from exhaustion, confusion, loneliness, and a wave of hopelessness that threatened to crush her.  
  
Eventually her sobs ceased, and she shivered a bit before zipping up her jacket. The breeze shifted, wanting to wrap his arms around her but knowing that it was not the right time. The flicker tensed in expectation. Rogue peeled off her gloves, confirming its hunch. She then began to write in her journal furiously, occasionally pausing to violently brush away tears and their tracks. The flicker sat back in the branches of the tree, content to merely watch, knowing that it would soon see what it was waiting for. The breeze furrowed its brow in confusion. *Why did she take her gloves off just to write?* It got its answer soon after mentally voicing the question.  
  
Rogue sighed, shrugged off her coat, thought for a bit, and then buried her hands in the grass. Nothing happened. The breeze nearly fell over in shock. *She has control. Oh my god.maybe it wasn't so bad that she left after all.* A new thought entered his mind. *Oh this is so good . . . she won't be able to weasel out of the kiss at all . . . and what a kiss it will be . . . but she obviously can't know that I know about this . . . still . . . you are mine.* A truly wicked smile spread on its features as it sped towards Rogue, trailing a fingertip across her shoulders, then sped away, all faster than the human eye could see. The flicker merely tensed at the sudden breeze, and when it left, relaxed. Rogue's eyes were closed, but she had felt the finger--a feathery touch so light, it had to have been a leaf on the wind, or a butterfly.  
  
*Mine.*  
  
She shivered at the little jolt she got from the touch then quickly glanced at the ground. *Oh thank God* Her shoulders lost some of their tension. With the relaxation came a new sense--a sixth sense, or something, she didn't know how to describe it . . . it was an awareness. She felt the energy of each blade of grass touching her hands, the life energy it had to offer, and it was all just within her reach, she only had to reach out with her hands--her mental hands, her emotional, her spiritual hands. If asked she would have only been able to say that they were the hands you have that aren't the ones you see when you look down at them. She tentatively reached out towards one blade, but got two. Within an instant they were dead. She clenched her jaw and reached towards one, telling herself she would only take a small bit . . . she got the whole blade. *Ah refuse to give up. You will NOT control mah life. You will NOT make me feel lak shit for the rest of mah days. You will FUCK OFF AND LET ME TAKE CONTROL.* Rogue mentally yelled at her power, then reached for another blade with her mind. The blade became drier and a less vibrant shade of green, and she jumped up in triumph.  
  
"Ha! Beat that fucking genetics!"  
  
"Would you care to try on something human?"  
  
Rogue screamed.  
MHAHAHAHAHAHA!! Sorry I always wanted to try my hand at a cliffhanger. =P  
  
----------------------- [1] Coma White, from Coma White, by Marilyn Manson [2] Disassociative, from Coma White, by Marilyn Manson [3] Everything I Touch, from Darkest Days, by Stabbing Westward 


	12. The promise of payback

AN: Thanks so much for all the reviews!!! I feel so loved!!! *blows kisses and throws Pietro dolls to everyone* Sorry Scott is on back order! Hahaha…anyway…I've decided to end the suspense…sort of…because the suspense is never really over…so here is your next chapter! I have thrown you a rope! (cliffhanger, rope, get it? *ducks a tomato* Hey! I'll make this Rogue/Todd *convulses, throws up* ok maybe not but I'm warning you….) In case y'all didn't figure out who the breeze and flicker were, I've provided bigass clues in the shape of hammers. Mwah! THANK YOU FOR REVIEWING!!!!! KEEP 'EM COMIN'!  
  
As always, standard disclaimers apply for everything.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter Twelve ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Rogue screamed and whirled around in shock. Leaning against a tree was Scott Summers. The moonlight reflected off of his glasses, then flickered as a cloud was blown past it. He had his arms folded across his chest, one foot on the tree, and he was wearing all black--tight black T- shirt that was flattering on his toned upper body, black pants of some indefinable material, black boots or clunky shoes of some sort. The standard unreadable expression annoying graced his classically handsome features, a few strands of his rich chestnut hair hung in his face, swaying slightly in the wind. *Scary.* Rogue thought as she shivered in the cool breeze that had picked up and was blowing her hair from her right half into her eyes. And a little voice told her, *Admit it, scary but sexy.* It was duly ignored.  
  
"What?" She said breathlessly, as her heart thudded in her chest. Her eyes were still wide with fright.  
  
"I said, would you care to try on something human?" He pushed off of the tree and took a few steps towards her.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
The professor's eyes shot open. A strong wave of fear had hit him in his sleep and he could sense immediately that it was from Rogue. He quickly did a mental check for her, and found her in the clearing. *I told her not to practice at night.* He thought to himself distractedly. *Logan, wake up, it's urgent.*  
  
*I'm already on it.* Logan, with his keen senses, had heard Rogue's scream and immediately thrown himself out of bed and into his costume. Her fear was so strong he could almost taste it, and the fact that the smell was beginning to die down worried him to no end. He jumped out his window and landed with catlike reflexes on the ground, then took off, following her trail.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"Ah…Ah don't know. You could get hurt, or dah.[1] And we can't have that now, can we?" she grimaced.  
  
"You can control it very well now, but a little blade of grass is nothing compared to an actual person. Let's do it."  
  
"But--"  
  
"Think of it as an extra training session. Come on, Rogue," he said at her uncertainty. "Are you gonna rule the power or are you gonna let it rule you?" He saw her look harden at that and continued to prod her. "Are you going to live in fear everyday that you'll lose control? Will you spend the rest of your life growing grass because it was the farthest you ever experimented? What's it gonna be--"  
  
"Shut the fuck up, Summers!" She yelled at him. "You don't know jack shit about what it's lak to be me, so don't even pretend to know. You don't think Ah know what you're tryin' to do? Get under Rogue's skin, yeah, she'll do whatevah you want, she's real easy to manipulate. If Ah don't want to do shit, don't fucking make me!" She slapped him, hard. The crack echoed in the silence, and seemed to grow louder.  
  
Scott touched his hand to his face, and inwardly winced. *Ow. Ok, maybe I deserved it, but ow. Slaps should be outlawed.* Rogue had paled at her sudden loss of temper. *Ah can't believe Ah just did that! Rogue, ya idiot, what the hell were you thinking?! Obviously you weren't! He's gonna kick you out and you'll have nowhere to go. Alone, again.*  
  
"Oh my God Scott, Ah'm so sorry. Ah didn't mean to snap lak that. Ah-- " She reached to touch his face, an automatic reflex ingrained from the beginning of time into a woman's instinct to nurture. He held her hand against her face.  
  
"It's okay, I shouldn't have baited you like that…although," he smugly smiled, "it worked, just not in the way I expected." Rogue gasped at what he meant, and tried to tug away her hand, but it was imprisoned in his.  
  
"You jackass, do you want to dah?" She stopped and closed her eyes, trying to concentrate on not draining him.  
  
"Nothing's happening Rogue. I'm fine."  
  
She didn't reply, but merely sought that level of understanding she had reached only a short time ago. Her head was beginning to ache from the mental effort she was putting onto her task.  
  
"Rogue?"  
  
She didn't answer.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
When the breeze had left Rogue, it had slowed down until it turned into the visual of a young man who, for once, was taking his time. A smile graced his face at the thought of what he had just seen as he ran his hand through pale strands. It was not a genuine smile. One of those rarely graced his features. It expressed happiness and at the same time was the expression of a scheming young seducer planning on how to take on his next victim. This look remained on his face until a piercing scream reached his ears. Without a thought, he spun around and raced  
  
back to the clearing he had recently left.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"Rogue?" Scott dropped her hand and caught her as she began to crumple.  
  
His voice sounded so far away. She could barely hear him, she was trying so hard to find her new level. It wasn't about saving Scott anymore, it was about regaining the control she had. Everything was so far away. She closed her eyes tighter, unaware that she had even opened them. *Everything's fading…Ah'm so tired…* Rogue completely collapsed. The last thing she heard was Wolverine bursting into the area and snarling at Scott.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Pietro heard the voices from far away and hid behind a tree--upwind of Wolverine.  
  
"What the fuck is going on?" Logan snarled at Scott.  
  
"Nothing," was the stoic response. "I came upon her practicing her control--she's finding it, you know. She didn't want to try it on me and collapsed when I grabbed her hand."  
  
"The scream? You're sure nobody else was here before you?"  
  
"Hardly. I followed her from the Institute, I could see her the entire time. I didn't see anyone. She screamed when I came up to her--she didn't know I was around. She thought she was alone." Scott swung Rogue into his arms and began to walk back as Logan began his lecture.  
  
"No more of this night time bullshit! You of all people should know better than to let one of the team go out alone--and at night! I can't believe it, where the fuck was your head--"  
  
"She wasn't alone. I've been watching her from the beginning. And the professor knew."  
  
Logan closed his mouth and was silent for a minute. "You still shouldn't have done that. From now on, practice in the Institute. Under my instruction."  
  
Scott snorted. "You try telling her that."  
  
Their voices faded away and Pietro emerged into the clearing, a sinister look on his face. *Summers…you will pay for what you did…I know it wasn't just what you made it out to be…you touch her, and you will pay. Did you think I'd miss that red mark on your cheek? She slapped you, you filthy bastard, and she had good reason to…Rogue doesn't just lash out like that…I have already claimed her. When will you learn? I guess I'll have to teach you…the hard way.*  
  
----------------------- [1] die 


	13. Running or Fear and overloading backlash

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter Thirteen ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
'Rogue…Rogue…come back to reality…it is time to awaken, Rogue.'  
  
Somewhere in the unexplored depths of Rogue's mind, Rogue's inner self halted from its search to listen to the voice that was calling it. It tilted its head to the side, asking the fatherly voice a question.  
  
'Yes, I can help you find what you seek, but only if you follow me.'  
  
'Promise?'  
  
'Yes.'  
  
'Are you sure? Ah've had so many broken promises, so many failures, so much negativity. Ah'm not used to askin' for help…but Ah can't do it on my own…Ah've tried so hard…and it's just out of mah grasp…Ah was so close. Ah reached total control, but Ah couldn't get it back…Ah've got to keep looking for it--Ah have to keep looking--'  
  
'Then look for it with us in the land of the living. We want to help you, it's why you came here to begin with…for help, is it not?'  
  
Rogue slowly opened her eyes.  
  
"Ah'm not used to relying on charity," she croaked.  
  
"It's not charity my dear, it's friendship." The professor smiled and left the room, confident that his young pupil would reach the level she desired, and needed.  
  
Rogue looked around the infirmary. Logan was sleeping in the chair next the door, his arms crossed. She smiled a bit at that. Scott was in the chair between the window and her bed, sleeping as well. He looked a bit harried, a little sad. Rogue's mouth tilted up at the left corner as she looked at him wistfully. He shifted in his seat, reached for his glasses in his pocket, put them on, and looked at Rogue.  
  
"…Hi," he said.  
  
"Hah."[1]  
  
"Are you okay? Logan and I were really worried when you weren't responding to anything we did. I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have been such an asshole. You weren't ready and I pushed you into it. I'm so sorry, I just saw how controlled you were and I thought that--"  
  
She held her hand up, silencing him. "It's okay Scott. Ah'm fahne. You did what you thought you should do as a trainer. And you were raht. Ah need to stop letting mah fears control me. Ah was lookin' for the control Ah had, and got lost in mah mahnd[2] on the way." She smiled sadly at that, and looked at her hands, which were gloveless. Scott followed her eyes.  
  
"Your stuff is in your room--glovers, jacket, bag, blanket. It's all in there."  
  
"How did you know Ah had left?"  
  
"I couldn't sleep so I was standing in front of the window and saw you leave. Didn't know where you were going in the middle of the night so I got dressed and followed where you had gone. Then I watched. I have a single, remember? No worries about waking roommates or anything," he lied with that unreadable expression on his face.  
  
Rogue's face paled. "How much did you see?"  
  
"I saw you with your hands in the grass, making it die, then controlling how much of their life force you were taking, that's it," he said, with the same indifference across his features.  
  
*Dammit…he should be a professional poker player with that face…and Ah have no way of knowing whether that's true or not…oh well…as long as he doesn't bother me about it.*  
  
"What tahme is it?"  
  
"Four o'clock. Don't worry, you didn't miss anything at school."  
  
"Shit," she said, getting out of bed. "Ah have to rehearse with Pietro."  
  
"No you don't."  
  
"Look, Scott, Ah know you can't stand the Brotherhood, but this is not personal, it's academic, okay? So cut out the big brotha act, ok? Ah can take care of mahself," she said, wiggling her fingers at him. She left the room and went to get dressed.  
  
Scott stood up and looked out the window. *It wasn't a big brother act. Oh how little you know, sweet Kate. How much you have to learn.*  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Rogue hung up the phone and threw on her leather jacket and gloves. She opened the door of her room to see Scott about to knock. She raised her eyebrows. "Yeah?"  
  
"I was wondering if you wanted a ride to wherever you're meeting Maximoff."  
  
"Ah guess." She breezed past him. "Ah'm meetin' him at the lahbrary."[3]  
  
*Huh, wouldn't have guessed he even knew where it was.* Scott followed her out the door.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"Sweet Beatrice, wouldst thou come when I called thee?" They were in one of the mostly soundproof study rooms of the library.  
  
"Yea, signior, and depart when you bid me."  
  
"O, stay but till then!" Pietro held her hands, facing towards her. She was staring at a point beyond him, determined to keep her head and not make an idiot of herself.  
  
" 'Then' is spoken. Fare you well now." She turned and left to go. "And yet, ere Ah go," she paused and turned to face him again, "let me go with that Ah came, which is with knowing what hath passed between you and Claudio."  
  
Pietro crossed to her. "Only foul words; and thereupon I will kiss thee."  
  
He held her shoulders and bent to kiss her. Rogue froze, forgetting to duck out of the way and say her next line. Then she dug herself deeper by looking into his eyes, which were probably only two centimeters away from her own. Endless cool green depths matched against flickering pale blue skies. Dark against light, each with their own shadows. Breaths from two bodies intermingled and hit each other. She could smell him--the faint scent of Cool Water for men mixed with an outdoorsy smell--probably from running everywhere all the time--and something indescribably male. Everything conspired against her to weaken her defenses. The sweetness of his breath. It's heat as his parted mouth hovered above hers. His eyes. They were so emotional yet so hidden--she could see them flashing across his eyes, but they were unreadable, incapable of being interpreted. It was like staring at a menu in Japanese. Instead you just pointed and hoped you got something good. The heat of his hands, one of which had slid down her arm to intertwine their hands together, their fingers interlaced. The other was still on her shoulder, and was now making its way to her neck, eliciting the most amazing sensations on it with its fingers. Her eyes fluttered close as his hand traced her jawbone, then left, and traced her lips. Rogue was lost in the sensations. The fact that he was touching her never crossed her mind. His hand left her face again and she opened her eyes halfway. Pietro had to hide a smile. This was almost too easy. He tilted her chin up and slowly bent down. She watched as his lips closed the distance between them. One centimeter….a half…two-fifths…three millimeters…two…one…She closed her eyes, then snapped them open and pushed herself away.  
  
"Um…uh…where were we? Oh yeah…Foul words is but foul wind, and foul wind is but foul breath, and foul breath is noisome." She pinched her nose and waved the air in front of it. "Thereupon Ah will depart unkissed. Sorry, forgot mah lahnes for a second."  
  
"Thou has frighted the word right out of his right sense, so forcible is thy wit. But I must tell thee plainly, Claudio undergoes my challenge; and either I must shortly hear from him or I will subscribe him a coward. And I pray thee now tell me, for which of my bad parts didst thou first fall in love with me?" Pietro said, never missing a beat. Inwardly he was laughing. *Ah, silly me…nothing is ever easy with you Rogue…I am in control, love, never forget that…speaking of control, what about your power? Were you in control? I see you touch your lips now with a look of confusion. What troubles you little one? You looked vaguely surprised…is it at my attentions or that I touched you and wasn't drained? It's unfortunate I am not gifted with telepathy, isn't it? Just think of what I could do with it.*  
  
"For them all together, which maintained so politic a state of evil that they will not admit any good part to intermingle with them." She allowed a mocking smile to cross her features. "But for which of my good parts did you first suffer love for me?"  
  
"Suffer love!" Pietro clapped a hand over his heart. "A good epithet. I do suffer love indeed, for I love thee against my will."  
  
"In spahte[4] of your heart, I think. Alas! Poor heart! If you spahte it for mah sake, Ah will spahte it for yours, for Ah will never love that which mah friend hates."  
  
"You and I are too wise to woo peaceably." Pietro shook his head.  
  
"It appears not in this confession. There's not one wahse[5] man among twenty that will praise himself."  
  
"Madam," Pietro said in a high voice at which Rogue failed to hide a smile, playing the part of Ursula, a handmaid who had a few lines, "you must come to your uncle. It is proved my Lady Hero hath been falsely accused, the Prince and Claudio mightily abused, and Don John is the author of it all, who is fled and gone. Will you come presently?"  
  
Rogue crossed to stand in front of Pietro. "Will you go hear this news, signior?"  
  
He took her hand and gazed earnestly into her eyes. "I will live in thy heart, die in thy lap, and be buried in thy eyes," he brought her hand to his lips, which brushed across her knuckles. Against her will, Rogue's breath caught in her chest at the sincerity in his eyes. *Fuck, he could charm birds out of the nest with those baby blues.* "And moreover," he continued, "I will go with thee to thy uncle's."  
  
"Well that leaves us with one more scene," she said, sighing. "Have you figured out anything with that interpretation bit? Ah know the first interpretation is easy, taking everything at face value, but Ah'm havin' a bit of a tahme here, figurin' out what to do for another interpretation."  
  
"I was thinking about that," Pietro said, releasing her hand and leaning against the wall, unknowingly taking the same pose Scott had held the night before under the tree. Rogue found herself unconsciously comparing them, then gave herself a mental shake. *Pietro's hair falls into his eyes, just like Scott's. But Scott's face is unreadable, whereas Pietro oozes suaveness and control, and Ah hate to admit it, but he looks damn sexy lak that…especially with that little smirk…Scott makes the pose sexy, but that damn unreadable expression! It's always on his face. Pietro's eyes are so intense…it just adds to his sex appeal…and he knows it…Ah wonder what color Scott's eyes are…pay attention, idiot.* "I think Benedick could take on a more flirty role, sort of like a playboy. Because that's what he is, you know. All this time he talks about all the women he's been with, and how he's never gonna be married, and then he hears about how Beatrice likes him and he takes pity on her. He's still this cocky sort of guy who goes around and makes love to everybody."  
  
Rogue nodded.  
  
"And Beatrice is nervous. She mentions before that she and he were somehow involved before. So she could be seen as nervous and cautious around him--more innocent, throwing barbs not to express her anger and wit, but rather as a defense mechanism."  
  
He fell silent and Rogue thought for a while. He watched her closely. *That's it, think. Does it hit too close for comfort for you little bird? Because that's what you are, a bird, that will come close but if you make a move or do a little thing you fly away until you are lured back…I will catch you.*  
  
"Alright," she said slowly, then glanced at the clock on the wall. "So tomorrow Ah have plans, Ah think…Kitty was saying something about the team havin' to do something…is Saturday okay? We can rehearse for a while then during the day."  
  
"Yeah, Saturday is fine. I have plans myself for tomorrow night."  
  
"Okay…Ah gotta go, Scott is gonna get here soon to pick me up."  
  
"I could take you home, you know."  
  
Rogue blushed a bit. "Uh, no, that's okay. Besides, Scott is already on his way here. See you tomorrow." She hastily backed out of the room.  
  
Pietro grinned after her, then was gone with a gust of wind. Neither noticed the face peering in at the window.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Rogue tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for the elevator to show up. The elevator dinged, then all of the lights in the library went out. Miraculously, the elevator doors opened, and the emergency lights lit up the occupant of the elevator, who was pushing the doors open. A feral grin crossed his features. Rogue's faced paled to the color of chalk under her layer of makeup.  
  
"Well, well, well…what do we have here? A little girl all by herself, with no teammates to help her? No Wolverine? Such a pity," Victor Creed clucked at her. Rogue began to slowly back away. "Oh, come on now, where are you going? I don't bite…unless you want me to." He pounced and Rogue jumped away with a scream in the nick of time, only because she was expecting that to happen. She ran and dodged behind a bookcase. The lights were still off, the floor was empty. The second the blackout had occurred everyone began to filter out of the building. *Scott will figure it out…he'll know something's wrong…I hope he doesn't think it's Pietro…oh God, hurry up Scott.*  
  
"Here kitty, kitty, kitty…oh but that's the other one, isn't it?" Sabretooth sniffed the air, then smiled evilly. *Paydirt* Sweat trickled down Rogue's spine, and she was trying to calm herself. *He can smell your fear, your sweat, stop, come on heart slow the fuck down oh god oh god someone please, oh shit, what if mah powers don't work? They didn't work when Pietro almost kissed me, when Ah slapped Scott, when he held mah hand…FUCK why couldn't Ah be satisfahed[6] with the gloves…stupid fucking control…fuck girl move MOVE MOVE MOVE HE CAN SMELL YOU!* She screamed at her body. She heard a chuckle, then hurled herself out of the way as he crashed into the side of the bookcase. Luckily he didn't hit it so that it would cause a domino effect.  
  
"You know, the last thing I remember before waking up in the North Pole is lookin' for Logan. I don't know how I got there, or how I got unconscious, but I know you people had something to do with it. And the draining sensation I felt could have only come from one person. You. You know, honey, it wasn't a good idea to do that. I make a bad enemy."  
  
Rogue looked around frantically for the exit signs, saw them, and ran, not caring if he could hear, see, or smell her. She opened the door to the stairs, only to be yanked back by her backpack strap and spun so that he blocked the way down. So she shrugged her bag off and ran up, her breath rattling in her lungs and she sobbed for air. She ended up on the roof. *Oh this is so fucking cliché. Ah demand a different script! Oh well, it's not lak Ah ran up here bah mah own choice. He blocked the way down. Small consolation.* She ran around the side of the small building that enclosed the stairs, and ran into Sabretooth. *How the FUCK does he do that?!* She screamed, then turned in the other direction and ran, drawing off her gloves as she did so. *Please work, please work, please work.* She stopped, then turned to face him.  
  
"Oh, so the little cat grew some claws did she?"  
  
"You wanna get drained again?" She raised an eyebrow. "Back off pussycat." *Oh please let the bluff work.*  
  
He circled around her, licking his lips. "You know, you've grown up a bit…why don't you try taking a walk on the wild side?"  
  
Rogue made a violent motion. "Ew! That's so sick, oh gross--" She cut herself off with a scream as he lunged for her and caught one wrist. She reached up to touch him--to grab his wrist, anything, but he caught the other one as well.  
  
"Not so tough, are we now, eh?" Rogue kneed him in the stomach, but he merely held her over the edge of the roof. "Wouldn't try that if I were you." He grinned evilly.  
  
"Ah'd rather dah then have anything to do with a fuck lak you,' she spat, then kicked for his groin. He dropped her.  
  
"Bye." Rogue screamed as she fell, face to the sky, arms reaching up as if to grab onto thin air. *Now it is officially something out of a movie…Ah feel lak Kirsten Dunst in Spiderman--what the fuck?* Something sticky wrapped around her wrist. *Spiderman does NOT exist--Ah think, who knows. If we can have a human toad, why not a spider,* she thought as she was pulled back up to the roof.  
  
"Like it's a bad idea to go jumping off buildings without a bungee cord or somethin' yo," Toad said. Rogue was ready to sob in relief. Instead she opted for pulling him out of the way as Victor lunged for them.  
  
"You just don't give up, do you? You never know when you're beaten."  
  
"Go Todd, before you get hurt. It's not your faht." Rogue told him.  
  
"Bullshit. This fuck thinks he owns the place, and it ain't like that yo. He can't mess with us and get away with it."  
  
"You idiot," she hissed at him, "if you go you can get Wolverine or the others. Scott should be coming soon, he was gonna pick me up." They were running across the roof. "And what do you mean 'us'?"  
  
"Once a member always a member. We don't hate you, ya know. We're pissed off at those X-geeks though. They can't steal our girl and get away with it. It ain't right, yo."  
  
Rogue smiled in spite of the rising panic. "That's great, but it won't do us any good if we dah, so go!" She shoved him down the stairs and slammed the door shut, leaning against it. A powerful kick from Toad shoved her into the arms of Victor as she shrieked and they fell down. She got up, but he grabbed her hand, then switched to her wrist for a more secure hold, and smiled.  
  
"What's the matter honey, power problems?" Rogue looked down at her hands in horror.  
  
"No…" she whispered. She shoved herself away from him as an optic blast hit him, then another, and they were tottering on the edge of the roof. Another hit him, and he started falling, pulling her with him. He let go of her wrist as a blast hit his hand, and she was whisked away from the edge by something moving faster than the eye could see. Todd pulled up Sabretooth. The roar of a plane signaled the arrival of Wolverine, who launched himself at Sabretooth.  
  
"Dude, I don't want him on my back for not letting him finish the other one off. I'd rather have them at each other than at me," he said at the looks on the teenagers' faces and jerked a thumb at Logan.  
  
Rogue was still in Pietro's arms, shaking like a leaf. Then it hit her. Her fear began to lessen, and her knowledge increased. She hadn't been able to use her powers because she wasn't confident in her ability to use them. She thought they would fritz out, so they did. Her fear that she would drain anyone she touched made her powers so. They were controlled by her emotions and thoughts. She hadn't been thinking about them at all with Pietro or Scott before…well, Scott was a different story. Her panic had blocked them out. All she had to do was think about using them, and think about the desired result. That was what it had been with the grass.  
  
"Let me down," she said to Pietro, who complied, being more concerned with the fight and keeping it away from them. She waited for her chance, then dashed up to Sabretooth, thinking about draining all of his power…all of his life force. She placed both hands on either side of his head. Within a second he was unconscious. She would have held on longer, but the sudden onslaught of power sent her into a backlash-overload combination, and she began to fall. Pietro caught the female feline humanoid as she murmured something about her bag, then fell unconscious.  
  
"She said something about her bag…it must still be there."  
  
"I'll get it yo," Toad hopped away.  
  
Wolverine threw Victor over his shoulder. "One of these days we'll finish it. Bring her on the plane boy." Pietro followed him, carrying Rogue.  
  
Scott caught sight of Rogue's gloves, and picked them up, tucking them into his pocket. He replaced the visor with his glasses and began to walk down the stairs. How long had she been fighting against Sabretooth? At least 10 minutes. He'd gotten there, and seen the lights go out, then the people pouring out. Obviously Victor had been behind the blackout. *I should have known right away,* he thought, angrily slamming his fist into the wall. *Obviously blackouts don't randomly occur like that right away, and the crowd of people would make her nervous so of course she'd hang behind…unless he popped in front of her right away…which he could have done.* He exited the building in his street clothes, then got in the car and drove away. *I thought Pietro was joking when he said Victor was after Rogue, but he was racing inside, pulling me with him. I barely had time to throw off my clothes and put on the visor. Lucky for him I wore the uniform under my clothes…you never know, especially when you go out, when you might be needed. I wonder how he knew. I'm surprised that he cared enough to go back…well…I guess not really…they still watch out for her, even though she doesn't know it. Like that time that random guy made some snide comments and Lance and Pietro beat the shit out of him so he transferred. He doesn't care for her, does he? God if only I knew what the hell was going on in that twisted mind…it's so frustrating…I won't let her get hurt, and if hurts her, then only God will be able to help him.*  
  
  
  
  
  
AN: Woohoo! Go me! Two chapters in one night! I saw Spiderman today. Go see it, for the effects and action if nothing else (some things like some lines were sorta cliché but what can you expect from a comic book series, eh? Besides, it's so hard to get original now that nearly everything is cliché.) But I'd been wanting to do an action scene with Sabretooth for a while, and then I saw the rerun thingy today of that episode with Sabretooth and Evan with his camera and was like, oh dude yay now I can do it. So review and tell me whatcha think, pweese? With Pietro/Scott/Lance on top? (Take your pick or have all three…ooo…o.O)  
  
----------------------- [1] hi  
  
[2] mind  
  
[3] library  
  
[4] spite  
  
[5] wise  
  
[6] satisfied 


	14. Sex ed with Sabretooth

AN: After several days of writer's block and many many many false starts, here is Chapter 14 (version 76 gazillion.=P) Spank you everyone for commentating on this, I feel so loved. This chapter is dedicated to Linkin's radioactive chicken. REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! SAY IT WITH ME! REVIEW!  
  
I don't own X-Men: Evo, or Slipknot (I wish I did…*drool*) or their music, etc.etc.etc. Can I have them anyway?  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter Fourteen ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Rogue walked through the empty halls of school, her footsteps echoing ominously. *Where is everyone?* As if on cue, as she exited the building, the sun began to set. A breeze swirled around her and within seconds she was on the edge of a cliff overlooking Bayville. In the far distance she could see what appeared to be the Institute. Strong winds blew her hair in her face. She turned around to the sight she'd knew she see, but wasn't prepared for the odd feeling the in the pit of her stomach the sight caused.  
  
Pietro stood facing her, adopting the black, evil angel look he had had before: black trenchcoat blowing in the wind, hair dancing wildly in his eyes yet still managing to look perfect in a sexual way. The all black ensemble of clothing highlighted his bodily assets and pale features. A knowing smirk graced his lips and two perfect chips of blue ice glittered at her predatorily. A demonic angel. The ultimate oxymoron. An idle thought entered Rogue's head. * He looks more lak a vampire raht now.* A mental image of Pietro with fangs biting her neck sent shivers up her spine. He took a step forward and she reflexively matched it with one back.  
  
"Hello, Rogue, he said in a low, husky voice that added to the chills running up and down her neck, her arms, to the shooting tingles travelling up and down her spine.  
  
"Uh, hah[1] Pietro. Um….what's up?" Rogue said uncertainly.  
  
He took another step forward. She retreated again. His smirk deepened.  
  
"Rogue, Rogue, Rogue…I'm disappointed. Don't you know?" Another step. She stumbled on the edge, and in a flash he pulled her flush against him by her wrist.  
  
"N…no," she said. *Why am Ah acting so ridiculous?! It's just Pietro!* She looked up at him to support this statement, and made the mistake of looking into his eyes. They alternately twinkled at her and then were shadowed. Shadowy eyes. Emotions hidden under emotions. Shadows under shadows in those silvery blue eyes that saw right through her, that were so piercing they were almost hypnotic. Intense eyes that were only a few inches away. *Oh,* she thought weakly as her knees threatened to buckle. *That's why.*  
  
"You should," he whispered as he lowered his head. A millimeter. A blasted tiny huge millimeter. That was the distance that separated their lips. A strange sense of déjà vu struck Rogue. She didn't know whether to close the space, moan in frustration because she was clueless, or push him away. She was frozen with indecision, with tension. His fingers were burning into her wrist. He lowered his lips to hers and all thoughts flew from her mind. It was soft, seductive--she only wanted to give in, to have more. *Small wonder the girls want him.* He brushed his lips against hers then opened his eyes to mere slits.  
  
She was leaning against him, her free hand on his chest, her eyes closed, her lips tantalizingly slightly parted. *Mine.* He thought triumphantly as a wicked grin crossed his face. He lowered his head again, his lips pressed against her. Soft, smooth bringers of pleasure. Her hand was now clinging to his shoulder, and he let go of her wrist to place a hand on each of her hips, pulling her closer to him. His tongue slipped out and flickered against the crevice where her lips met. She tentatively opened her mouth and he took full advantage, stroking her tongue with great passion as she began to match him with her own responses. A hand slipped under her shirt to cup a breast as his mouth traveled to her neck, fixating on a spot where it bit and sucked. Rogue's hands were spread across the powerful muscles on his shoulder blades, the only thing besides the arm around her waist that was holding her upright. A low moan escaped her mouth as the thumb on his hand brushed over her nipple lightly, causing it to harden. He smirked evilly. *You're mine now. You can't run away from me any longer.* Then Sabretooth appeared out of nowhere and leapt in front of the couple, scaring Rogue senseless, although she had few left after Pietro.  
  
"Jesus fuck, kids these days. Safe sex is the way to go," he said, handing Pietro a box of condoms before throwing Rogue off of the cliff. She screamed and grasped wildly for something to break her fall when she was doused in cold water.  
  
Spluttering, she sat up in bed. *Aw, fuck…fuckin' realistic dreams. Ah knew it was too good to be true…except for the Sabretooth bit…that was just strange.* Kitty looked at her anxiously as Cyclops and Wolverine burst in, ready to maim, destroy, and kill as the situation called for.  
  
"Sorry, I didn't, like, know what else to do."  
  
The two men looked around wildly before relaxing and strolling over to Rogue's bed.  
  
"Bad dream, kid?"  
  
"You could say that," Rogue drawled. "Sabretooth randomly appearin' and throwin' me off a cliff doesn't rate high on mah list of good dreams." The two men exchanged looks as they alternately clenched jaws, fists, gritted teeth, and made silent promises to rip Victor apart and scatter the body parts to the four winds. She looked down at her sodden pajamas and bed. *Ugh, no sleep for me tonaht.*  
  
"Get changed and come to my room," Scott said.  
  
"Excuse me?" Rogue raised an eyebrow.  
  
"You can't sleep in a wet bed and my room has a sofa with a pull-out bed."  
  
"Oh" was her reply and she stood up to change pajamas, shivering in the cool air as she headed to the bathroom with a new set of pajamas.  
  
"C'mon, half-pint. You've helpin' me clean up the mess. We're carrying the sheets and the mattress to the laundry room to dry. Mattress'll dry faster if air hits both sides…well, you carry sheets and blankets. You're a bit small to get the mattress half-pint," Logan grinned at Kitty as he retracted his metal claws with a 'snick' and pulled off the mattress.  
  
Rogue changed and went into Scott's room. She saw his bed, empty, and frowned.  
  
"Scott?" she whispered.  
  
"I'm over here," he lifted his head from the sofa bed and pt on his shades. "Problem?"  
  
"Ah didn't wanna put you outta your bed."  
  
"It's okay. It's for one night. Don't worry about it. Go to sleep. In my bed. That's an order."  
  
She stuck her tongue out at him although it was nearly pitch black and almost laughed at childish reaction. She fell asleep instantly, having time for one thought: *his bed is comfy.*  
  
Multiple Victor Creeds plagued her sleep again as she frantically looked for a place to hide, helpless, vulnerable. She ran breathlessly, sobbing from lack of air and from panic. A voice came to her from far away.  
  
"Shhh…it's okay Rogue, I'm here, you'll be okay. He won't get you." Warm, muscular arms encircled her and brought her close to a muscled chest-- nothing to fear, she was completely covered in long sleeves and pants…even socks. The comforting embrace held her as she drifted off to sleep--finally off to the land of sweet, peaceful dreams.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Pietro sat up quickly after Sabretooth threw Rogue away like yesterday's garbage. He was breathing quickly, hands up, ready to fight. *Oh…it was a dream.*  
  
He lay down again. *Oh goddammit…all that progress for nothing!* Then he grinned. *I get to do it all over again…maybe that's not such a bad thing…it gave me some interesting ideas.* His lips turned upward in a wicked smirk as his CD player sang him to sleep.  
  
Even if you run... I will find you  
  
I decided I want you  
  
Now I know.... I need  
  
If you can't be bought, tougher then I thought  
  
Keep in mind - I am with you  
  
Never left out fate, can't concentrate  
  
Even if you run...  
  
You will be mine!  
  
Ah, fucking you will be mine!  
  
Ah, fucking you will be mine!  
  
Ah, fucking you will be mine!  
  
I found you  
  
Leanin' out of an open window  
  
You laughed, our fingers clenched  
  
Too perfect, far too careless  
  
I couldn't help myself - I just took you  
  
Dammit man I knew it was a mistake  
  
Better make yourself at home  
  
You're here to stay  
  
You won't bother me... if you let me bother you  
  
All the doors are locked, all the windows shut  
  
Keep in mind... I watch you  
  
Never leave my side, never leave me, fucker  
  
Even if you run  
  
What the fuck is different?  
  
Man, I can't believe I'm doin this[2]  
  
…you will be mine.  
  
----------------------- [1] hi  
  
[2] "Prosthetics" by Slipknot, from Slipknot. Check this song out, it's AWESOME people, even if you don't like Slipknot…it's not as hard/heavy/loud as their other ones if you don't like hardcore stuff. 


	15. Waking up to your kisses

AN: As always, thanks so much for reviews. Hope ya'll liked my steamy Pietro scene there. Go listen to Prosthetics by Slipknot it's SUCH a good song. Honestly. Even my hardcore anti-Slipknot friends like it. Scout's honor. And everyone beg Rionithis and Phoenix Angel Suyari to update. =P  
  
And review me!!!!!! Please? (Not that I don't appreciate it, but I'm a glutton, never satisfied…but I have to say, I'm dedicating this chapter-- because I'm a sap and I like to hear myself talk, in case you didn't notice- -to those people who have been with me since day one, you faithful reviewers, you know who you are. I could list you all….but I won't, cuz I don't like to be exclusive…but you should know who you are…so I thank you for your constant and continued support. And new reviewers, thanks for taking the time.  
  
Sadly, this chapter may not have a lot of Rietro in it…I think…I dunno…I always start them off by writing the Author Note. I read the umm…for lack of a better word…steamy scene by my Evil Sexy Pietro muse wrote in Chapter 14 and he's in big trouble…lucky for him I anticipated the rating…but it may need to be changed if he gets any more graphic…so he's been locked away temporarily until he gets out. And I'm yelling at my Scott muse for taking advantage of my absence (while punishing Petey) for finishing the chapter…I dunno what that twist was at the end. I think he wants to beat up/maim/kill Pietro. Anyway….enough of that insanity.  
  
Remember, kids: Lotsa reviews per day (or chapter) keep the writer's blocks away! (they really do no joke!) (that was a subtle hint.)  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter Fifteen ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Scott looked down at the sleeping girl in his arms. In his arms. He liked the sound of that. She was on her side curled up against him, her head on his right pectoral, her right hand on his left one. Her left leg, which she was lying on, was stretched out completely, flush against the length of his body. Her top leg, the right one, was pulled up and lying on top of his legs. Her other arm was curled around her waist with her hand lying on top of her side. One of his large, well-muscled arms was curled around her from the back, holding her close to him. The other was lying across his stomach. She moved slightly and he tensed. She rubbed her cheek against his chest and nuzzled it a bit, mumbling something unintelligible. Then she quieted and continued her deep sleep. He relaxed, and sighed. It was going to be a long night. He was scared to move for fear of waking her, and from the two outbursts she had had he knew she needed this peaceful sleep for as long as it could last.  
  
When she had been hyperventilating and alternately thrashing about and freezing in place, he had thought some invisible mutant was trying to kill her, until she said in a half-sob, "Don't let him get me, can't let him get me…oh God someone help…nobody there…nobody…all alone…No help. Thrown to the wolves--wolves, tigers…oh no…He's coming, he's coming--" Then she had started thrashing around again. He had shoved his sunglasses on and quickly dashed over to the bed, holding her close. So she wouldn't hurt herself. *Yeah keep tellin' yourself that Summers.* She had relaxed almost immediately, with contact, and with him whispering to her that he'd protect her, she'd be safe, nobody was gonna get her, she didn't need to run anymore. His protective instincts were still in overdrive, and he looked at the petite thing that had sparked them, wondering if this was how Logan felt about all of them. She wasn't that petite, but she was short and slender compared with his height and muscles. She looked fragile again, vulnerable. Peaceful. Content. Scott watched her and was lulled to sleep by her breathing and warmth.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Rogue woke up to find that her bed was moving up and down. Not a lot, and not erratically. Just a gentle motion up and down. Then she realized it was only her head, right arm, and a bit of her upper body. She looked at her hand, and saw that it was on something not very bed-like. It was on a chest. A muscular pectoral. A guy's chest. She was in bed with a guy. Through her sleepy haze Rogue was quite confused. She then realized that a guy's arm--a very well-muscled one, was coming around her back to end with the hand on her hip, holding her close. Not that she could be any closer. She could feel their mingled body heat from her toes to her head as her body was pressed against the man's. Her top leg, she realized with a flood of crimson to the face, was bent at the knee and thrown over the guy's leg in such a way as to insinuate her leg in between his two. To her further chagrin, she realized that this position was not only warm, it was comfortable. And on top of that she had apparently quite a bit to do with the position. People did not get manipulated into that position, they moved into it themselves. She kept her head down, afraid to look up, afraid to move lest she waken the nameless male. *Who the hell could it be? Ah mean, random guys do not just go into girls'--especially MUTANT girls' rooms…wait…this is not mah bed.* Rogue experienced an initial moment of panic before remembering sleeping in Scott's room. Scott. His room. This was his bed. In his room. Scott's bed. Scott's room. Scott's bed with a guy in it. A guy who was not Scott. Scott was on the sofa bed. This was very, very, very bad. Rogue suppressed a groan, although she was getting niggling thoughts of warm arms--she was currently held in warm arms, strong too--a soothing voice…did Scott have a soothing voice? She knew he had a commanding one, a nicer one…but a soothing one that whispered comforting words to her? She shook her head, trying to clear it. *Now how in the hell am Ah supposed to get out of this without waking…whoever.* She took the hand on her hip in her gloved hold, and held it in place while she attempted to slither down, but to her surprise and extreme horror, the arm moved towards her more, pushing her on top of the body while the other arm moved over her. The guy was now hugging her close, both of his arms wrapped around her waist, and she was lying on top of his torso. *A pretty impressive one,* she thought as she felt the chest, the washboard abdominal muscles through her own soft curves. There was no escape from this position unless she woke him up. Then with a tensing of her body she realized that her head was right under his chin, and that she was actually straddling him. *Okay, this has got to end.* She was blushing a lovely shade that was close to a tomato red. A deep, contented sigh stirred her hair, and she dared a glance upward. *SCOTT?!?!?!?!* She gasped in shock, then began to get ready to rip him open. She glared at his sleeping form, then as his mouth twitched slightly she realized he was, in fact, awake. *Fuckin' red shades, can't see a damn thing through them in this laht. He is so dead…*  
  
"Morning," he said softly. *She's gonna kill me for that move, but it was worth it. She's so soft…curves…muscular but still feminine. Besides, I have some questions for her, and this keeps her from leaving.* There are easier ways of getting her to stay. *Shut up,* he said to his conscience, which obligingly listened. The polite, civil greeting threw her off. She just stared at him. "You…were having nightmares again last night…I came over and you were crying and thrashing around…so I tried to help…you fell asleep holding on to me. I didn't know what to do. Then I fell asleep too. Nothing happened or anything. Are you okay now?"  
  
She continued to give him a blank stare. It wasn't often the oh-so- fearless leader was at a loss for words. *But it's not often Ah cuddle up to random people in mah bed either…Ah don't even have people in mah bed!* Then reality slapped her in the face. The rather, ah, compromising position they were in. The fact that she was just staring at him. Or rather, at his mouth since she refused to look into his eyes, or look for them behind his glasses. It was a well-shaped mouth. Like Val Kilmer's. Or Jeff Hardy's. Kissable. Like Orlando Bloom. Like Pietro. No, not like Pietro…well…maybe…but this was Scott's mouth. Pietro had more of a pouty mouth. Rogue shook her head again, wondering where the hell her brain had gone. Then she froze again. And then shook her head. Again. It was not her imagination. Her hair was falling from her head and lying on Scott's chest in a silky pool of auburn with some mingled white. *The draining! Oh mah god Ah look lak Sabretooth! And Ah slept with Scott?! THIS IS HORRIBLE! BAD! TERRIBLE! NOT GOOD!*  
  
"Rogue?" She looked at him with wide eyes. *Oh how could he have seen me lak this?! This is awful…and so embarrassing. Humiliating.*  
  
"Rogue, you look fine."  
  
"Ex--excuse me?"  
  
"What you're thinking is clearly on your face. That and Jean says you're projecting. A lot. And you're so focused on what you're thinking that you can't hear her thinking back at you, telling you that you're shouting in her mind. She told me to reassure you. You don't look like Sabretooth anymore. Except your hair is long. But that's it. No fangs, no bulging muscles, nothing. I don't know why. Do you?"  
  
She could see his eyes now as the sun's rays began to filter through the windows. Piercing, intelligent, all-knowing. They didn't miss much. Questioning. *Ah really need to stop this.*  
  
"Ah don't?" She pulled off a glove. Human hands. Her hands. Pale, white, nails slightly long--from the "transformation," but that could be taken care of relatively easily. She looked at her arms. Muscular, but not overly so. Not like they had been before. She ran a tongue around her teeth. No fangs. Just long hair and long nails. She ran her ungloved hand through the length of the hair. "It's so long…Ah don't think Ah've ever had it this long."  
  
Scott looked at her. "I think we have to cut it. I mean, it would be sort of odd if you just showed up with long hair one day. But…you don't need to cut it until Sunday. Prof, Logan, and Ororo decided you were staying home after last night's incident. But you didn't answer my question."  
  
"They want to keep an eye on me, don't they? He won't be comin' back for a while though…Ah don't know. Ah thought it would take a few more days at least before Ah was anywhere close to normal."  
  
"Well, I'm glad. We had plans for you tonight." Scott rolled over as Rogue squeaked in surprise. He was now on top of her, lying between her legs. *Plans? What the hell? Ah wonder if Pietro has changeling powers lak Mystique…that would be REALLY bad…even worse than telepathy. What is with Scott? Changing positions…it's just…um…sexual? Sensual? Not Scott-like? Confusing.*  
  
"Scott?" A small smile graced his features. *She's just so cute. I'm sorry Rogue, but I have to tell you how I feel. And to find out just what Pietro's interest is in you. I just hope she doesn't kick my ass after this.* He rested on his forearms and look at her. He ran his hand through her hair, unable to continue resisting the temptation. It probably would reach at least to her waist, probably farther. It was silky, and caressed his hand and fingers like a gentle lover. Then he leaned close.  
  
"You are like an angel, Kate. Pure, innocent, and virtuous. But your virtue is tempting, as you must know. Lesser men than I would not try so hard to resist." He kissed her, softly. She gasped, and he took advantage, giving her a sweet, open-mouthed kissed. It was sincere, and conveyed the purity of…of something. Not like Pietro's kisses, which promised more, much more. And she knew exactly what the more was…she thought. *You never know with Pietro.* The understanding of what exactly was in Scott's kiss was frustratingly just beyond her grasp. Why was he kissing her, anyway? The kiss was innocent, and pure…but it was something else too. She didn't know. She just wanted more of whatever it was. Her hands swept along his back and shoulders, feeling the muscles flex at her touch as she began to kiss him back. Then it was over. He pulled away, breathing slightly heavy, his hair falling in his eyes. She sat up, hand raised to brush the strands from his face, but pausing halfway to his head. His hand reached out and ran through her hair again, then cupped her cheek. "Like an angel…but tempting, in control." He cocked his head to the side, contemplative. "And what control it is. You can control your power. But can you control your emotions, virtuous Kate, your desires? Or will the devils take that virtue and control away too?" He said to her softly.  
  
With that rather enigmatic question, he left. Rogue just sat there, touching her lips, completely confused. In his bed. *Ah'm tempting? Or is he just playacting? He called me Kate…is that supposed to be a term of endearment? Why the hell are guys so confusing? Why do all the odd things happen to me?! Control mah emotions and desires? What the HELL is he getting at? Devils taking virtue and control away? Oh honestly! This is useless, Ah'm never gonna figure it out any tahme soon. Devils…Pietro looks lak a devil. Fallen angel. Lucifer. Controlling mah power. He knows about that…but emotions? Does he know something about Pietro and me? Kate…mah name is Rogue. Rogue power. Rogue name. Rogue events. The odd ones. The anomalies…rogue bah name and bah nature. Rogue lahfe.*[1] She got out of Scott's bed and started down the hall to her own room, pausing to look at the mirror near Scott's door. He hadn't been lying. Her face was her own. Her hair…reached down to the bottom of her bottom. Then a thought struck her as an indignant look settled itself across her face, her entire being offended at the contradiction to her past and present lifestyle and events that had happened involving her. *…Ah am not pure, virtuous, and innocent!*  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Scott leaned his head against the tiled wall of the shower stall, letting the hot water hit his back, relaxing the tense muscles. *What was I thinking?! I can't just go around kissing her like that! What if she had lost control? When she gets her thoughts together she is going to be pissed, and I can't protect her from Pietro if she won't even talk to me. I know he's up to something. I can tell. The way he looks at her, stands next to her, the way he acts. He's definitely got something in mind. He doesn't like her the way I do. He doesn't see how she really is fragile and vulnerable, how easily she can be hurt. She's just…a challenge to him…That's it! A challenge. Because he can't touch her, and because of her get-the-fuck-away-from-me attitude. But he can touch her now…a fact which he hopefully is unaware of. He can't touch her…I'll kill him.* Scott shook his head, his wet hair flinging drops of water everywhere. *No, Summers, you cannot be ruled by your emotions. This morning was bad enough. Cool logic and determination always prevail in any situation…but when she opened her eyes and looked so lost, I had to give her a hug. And then when her mouth formed that pout…the one it always does when she's confused…I had to kiss her…but…she kissed back…hmm…okay, new plan. Screw the logic.*  
  
Oh yeah, one more thing…I'm looking for "previewers" so to speak…people I can send the chapter to BEFORE I post it on ff.net who can give me their complete, honest, lengthy opinion on it so I can modify it. (Now that the plot and everything is getting more complicated and I have started another story I need more guidance…if you would be interested in doing this for either this story or Untouchables email me or put it in a review w/ your email addy.)  
  
----------------------- [1] Rogue by name and by nature. Rogue life. 


	16. Making mulch

AN: I'm back! Sorry I know it's been FOREVER but I've been doing IB and AP tests all month. Literally. Since May 2, and they didn't end till May 23. My brain is currently a pile of dust that has been scattered by the four winds. So yes. And I have writer's block. =( But your reviews have been oh so wonderful! A true joy! Made me smile all day/week/however long I've been gone. Pietro is mad at me and has run away…so I have no fodder for Pietro scenes. =( MAKE HIM COME BACK!!!!  
  
A brief reminder: in THIS story Rogue can drain ANY living thing be it animal, mineral, or vegetable. I KNOW this isn't exactly true to the comics/cartoon/whatever, but cut me some slack, yo!!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter Sixteen ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Rogue shook her head, attempting to clear her thoughts. *Well it looks lak Ah have a day to mahself…fahnally--Ah can really see what this whole control thing is all about.* She got out of Scott's bed and walked out of his door, only to almost walk into Logan. She squeaked with surprise. He raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Um…hi Logan," she stuttered. *Oh shit…busted.*  
  
"Hey kid. Session with me before breakfast. Ya have ten minutes. Be there." Then he turned and walked away, leaving a very confused Rogue.  
  
She blinked. *Um…okay…don't ask why Ah was in Scott's room in mah pajamas then…oh…wait…he was there last naht…well then…tahme to change.*  
  
When Rogue entered the Danger Room, she was not expecting it to be lined up with various types and sizes of flora. She raised her eyebrows at Wolverine, who was leaning against the wall, arms crossed.  
  
"New fetish we should know about?"  
  
He pushed himself off the wall. "They're for you. To practice with. Chuck said you had some sort of control now, but he didn't know how far it went. So we're gonna test how good it is, and your speed with it."  
  
Rogue frowned, then thought. *Okay…well…mah control is decent, Ah'd say…wasn't a problem this mornin'.* She was unable to stop the blush that rose to her cheeks. "So, what, are ya gonna throw them at me?"  
  
He let a smile tug on his lips. "No. You're going to sit here and use that first plant to show me what exactly you can and can't do. Or what you can almost do. Or whatever. I wanna see how it works and for how long, kid."  
  
She mentally groaned. *Ah'm nevah gonna get outta here. Ah'm gonna starve. Make him go away Ah'd take Sabretooth any day…okay maybe not but still.*  
  
She sat in front of the first plant. It wasn't anything unusual, just a potted lily that rose a few feet in the air and had a series of leaves and flowers. She peeled off her gloves.  
  
"Well…obviously the easiest thing to do would be to drain it dry…but what Ah can do…well, Ah could do it the other naht. Ah've only done it once. Ah can drain from one part of it, like kill one petal or one leaf. Ah…Ah don't know." She was suddenly very unsure of herself. Insecurity and uncertainty set in. Her hand hovered unsteadily a few inches away from the stem. *Stop it Rogue. You've done this before. It's the fear and doubt that messes it up. Be certain, and the outcome is certain. Be afraid and the fear controls you. Remember?* She told herself. Without hesitation she laid her hand on the stalk and focused on a petal of a flower. Within a second it was shriveled, dried, and brown. She kept her hand on the stalk, taking comfort from the sensation of the smoothness of it on her skin.  
  
"Pretty good kid. What else can you do?" He sat across from her, watching with obvious interest.  
  
"Ah…Ah can take only part of its energy," she said, struggling to maintain contact with the plant, not drain it, and string words to form an intelligible and grammatically correct sentence. In her mind she visualized one of the leaves higher up on the stalk. She saw the amount of energy it contained. She immediately scooped up half with her mental hand and then looked at Wolverine, who was nodding in satisfaction, then took half of what was left. It was almost like split vision. One part reality, one part what she saw in her mind. She mentally turned her powers to "off" and looked at him again.  
  
"Good, kid. Drain it all in one go like you tried to do to that fuc-- jerk last night."  
  
In two seconds the plant was completely dead. Rogue smiled with the rush of energy she felt. The plant wasn't small, and absorbing the energy had been like eating a snack. Then she sobered. *Ah shouldn't lak draining things…that's just sick…it's lak…enjoying homicide…or herbicide…what sort of monster am Ah?*  
  
Wolverine smelled her anxiety and noticed the change in expression but chose to ignore it. *She has to get comfortable with her powers first.* "Now, the next plant." They sat on either side of it, facing each other.  
  
"We're gonna see how well you can concentrate and for how long. First with listening." So saying, he began lecturing on self-defense and fighting moves while Rogue touched the stalk with one hand, then the other, then clasped her hands around the stalk, letting them rest in the soil of the pot. Her thoughts began to drift as Logan droned on and on about different moves. *Ah wonder why Scott kissed me? Ah'm so confused…What plans did he mean? Ah thought Ah had plans with Kitty…Ah wonder where Jean has been lately, Ah haven't seen much of her. How did Pietro and Toad know where to fahnd[1] me? Pietro has beautiful hair. So does Scott. It's so silky and when it hangs in his face…Ah wonder what color his eyes are? Isn't it weird that he can look so intense even though you can't even see his eyes clearly very often? Clearly meaning you can see them through the glasses…Pietro--*  
  
Rogue gave a yell. "OH MAH GOD!!" And her thoughts were cut in two (get it?) as Wolverine's claws were unsheathed an inch from her face. She fell over backwards in shock, and he was hard put to contain the grin that wanted to spread across his face.  
  
"Pay attention kid," he growled at her. She glared at him and put her hands in their former position.  
  
"Don't need to go around skewerin' people. Big overgrown…," the last bit of her insult was lost in mumbling, even to him.  
  
"Right. As I was saying…" The lectured continued. An hour later Ororo came in and leveled a glare at Wolverine, who stopped mid-sentence.  
  
"Goddess, are you going to starve the child all day? Come on, it's past time you ate Rogue."  
  
Rogue happily followed, resisting the urge to make a face at a disgruntled Wolverine.  
  
"Was only a lecture on fightin'. Ya'd think that'd be somethin' they want me ta teach her."  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
The day continued much in the same vein, with Rogue using a plant and listening to Logan's lectures--or Wolverine's. She preferred to call him his codename when they were in uniform and when he was teaching--just because he was more…animalistic, strict, scary etc.--more "Wolverine-ish," as Kitty said it, when he was teaching and fighting. Other times she would engage in a mental conversation with the professor, who was monitoring their activities, about the books she was reading in class. Ororo came in later and she had an oral conversation with her about classical music and the works of their favorite composers. It was a little known fact that Ororo had a talent for music--as did Rogue, who had been playing piano since she was very small. Ororo helped Rogue continue her instruction in the instrument, and they had developed a small bond over the works of Brahms, Rachmaninov, and Scriabin. It took several tries before Rogue could successfully concentrate on speaking and on the plant at the same time. As the day progressed it became second nature--touching and not draining anything while maintaining a conversation.  
  
For the last activity Rogue was in a tank top and shorts sparring with Wolverine, with the plants all around her. *This SUCKS,* she thought, as she wiped some sweat away from her brow and flipped over a knee-high shrub. She knelt over panting, then threw herself to the right as Wolverine came at her (sans claws). She threw a kick at him, which missed, and he grabbed her leg and threw her into another bush, which survived the contact but not the weight. Rogue lost her temper and threw the nearest plant at his head. Surprised, he sliced it to bits before it hit him.  
  
"Now, now kid, control yer temper," he admonished with a grin. "And who said you could fight dirty?"  
  
"Oh you're one to talk. Have you EVAH fought clean?"  
  
He retaliated by throwing a smaller plant at her, which she caught and absorbed, using the sudden rush of energy to fuel her own movements and alleviate her fatigue. She threw another plant, a good-sized unidentifiable tree. This one went wide, went through a startled Kitty who squeaked and then was blasted against the wall by a red stream of light, courtesy of Scott.  
  
Rogue let down her guard and faced the two.  
  
"What are you two--OOF!" Wolverine swept her feet from under her, causing her to land on her back as she twisted in midair.  
  
"What is the number one rule in fightin'? Never--"  
  
"Evah turn you're back on the enemy," Rogue finished with him as she kicked him behind the knee, causing him to buckled forward and land on both knees.  
  
" *AHEM* Yeah so like, anyway, we need Rogue now. You've had her all day and it's our turn. She has to like, get ready you know. Girl stuff and all that…um…bye now." Kitty nervously laughed at the stare Wolverine gave her (along with the standard raised eyebrow) and grabbed Rogue's arm, phasing them through the floor so they could leave.  
  
"Plans?" He looked at Scott.  
  
"Yeah we're going out. Just a few of us. It's to test her control in a public place where she inevitably has to brush against people. That's why we needed Kitty, to tell her what to wear."  
  
Logan took off his hood and chuckled. "Yeah, half-pint can be a tyrant when it comes to fashion and stuff can't she?"  
  
Scott shuddered. "You have NO idea."  
  
"So where exactly is this public place? And don't give me some half- assed answer."  
  
"A club. The professor said it was okay."  
  
"Did he now?"  
  
"Jean's going."  
  
"Okay…back by curfew?"  
  
"Actually…it's sorta far out. Four?"  
  
"Hell no. Two."  
  
"Three."  
  
He sighed. "You damn kids will be the death of me. Three. If there's trouble--"  
  
"We'll call. But it's Jean, Kitty, Kurt, Ray, and me. Those are like the best powers there are. If we had Bobby that would be good, but…Ray has the best control of the newer students--except for that temper--and if something happens and we need something more in terms of offensive powers it would be ideal to have him around. Besides, he's been around the clubbing scene, so he can watch out for what goes on…but...anyway…I should go." Scott left, fully aware that he had been babbling.  
  
Logan narrowed his eyes. He smelled anxiety and a bit of fear. Scott wasn't telling the complete truth. They definitely had to have permission…maybe it was anxiety on what would happen with Rogue, and the younger kids in a club setting. It wasn't like it mattered--and he didn't have a problem with a 3 a.m. curfew--the nearest underage club was miles away. Besides, with Jean and Scott as the "chaperones" little to nothing would happen. The kids deserved a night out. Especially the kid--she had always declined before because of the skin issue, but he could sense the hunger and desire she had to go, to live a "normal life."  
  
*Eh…what the hell, I'll wait up for 'em, and if I smell anything out…they're in deep shit.* Logan gave an evil chuckle and began to make mulch.  
  
----------------------- [1] find 


	17. Another kind of kitten

AN: *Falls down on knees begging for forgiveness* I'M SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SOOOOOOOOOOOOO SOOOOOOOOOOOO SOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRY I haven't updated for like a century!!!!!! ARGH!!!! BUT WAIT! *holds up a finger* I have (somewhat) good reasons...Do you want to hear them? No? TOO DAMN BAD!!!! I graduated high school (YAY) and then was off to Wales for 2 weeks...then I came back and had to work in this very grueling horrid job that screwed me out of the salary I was supposed to get...very difficult to write when you feel like frying your bosses' asses...yes...anyway...And I got the new iMac...but, UNLIKE PCs (still can't decide which I like better), Macs conveniently DON'T come w/ word...and I had written out the first 3 or so pages of this chapter, and I couldn't remember if I liked it or not...and since I start writing everything on the general novel document (each chapter is saved twice-once as a separate document and once as part of this story/epic/pain in the ass) and this is password protected twice, I couldn't open it until I coughed up a couple hundred dollars for Microsoft Office. DAMN THE CAPITALISTS IT'S ALL THEIR FAULT I SWEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   
  
Besides, now since you all missed me so much, you'll just LOVE this chapter just cuz you're desperate for more. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!   
  
As always, leave your flames, questions, comments, and any gifts in the mailbox. And to all my betas...um...sorry I didn't send this out to you first, but I'm on a roll. (And I'm afraid if I don't update by the time I start classes I never will...hot college boys and all that =P)..and I lost all of your emails anyway in my move to my dorm...*looks down sheepishly*  
  
And now I've started classes...BLA. Doesn't matter how old you are, classes SUCK.  
  
And that was all from about a month or 2 ago...I would like to thank cally(Q) and Spitfire for yelling at me and making me FINALLY finish this damn thing (which was really mostly done I just never got around to finishing it)...yes...I hadn't originally intended preparation to take up an entire chapter...but...oh well...and fear not, I am back working my ass off I SWEAR I won't neglect you ever again (just yell at me every couple of days)....*offers a peace offering.*  
  
ENJOY!!!!!!!!!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Chapter Seventeen~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Kitty, what are you doin'?" Rogue asked cautiously, staring as the young brunette whirlwind was wreaking havoc in their room. Clothes were being thrown out of her closet at such a rate that Rogue suspected that besides Kitty, only Pietro would be able to tell what sort of clothing article they were.  
"Getting you ready," her muffled voice answered from the closet. "AHA! Jackpot! Ooo...I didn't know you had leather pants Rogue...actually...I thought they would suit you but I didn't know you had any. Perfect! You're wearing these!" Rogue was hit in the face by a pair of black leather pants she had forgotten about. *Oh...Ah forgot Ah had them too.*  
"But first," Kitty turned around with a strange look in her eye that made Rogue want to carefully back away, "underwear." With that she promptly lunged over to Rogue's underwear drawer. Now Rogue's underwear drawer was emptying itself into the middle of the floor.  
"Boring, boring, boring, hmm--nah, boring, boring--God Rogue is ALL of your underwear black? Did you see Ten Things I Hate About You? Oh wait, here's some white...pale blue...hmm...Aha! Thongs! I knew you had some...Ooo...damn girl you're hiding some GREAT underwear here! Do you ever wear these? Oh this is cute!" Rogue caught a thong. "And these...and this one too." Rogue grabbed three more. "Okay, let's see then...we need shirts...ugh...I need Jean's help for this one. JEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!" Rogue just sat there, shell-shocked. *What the hell have Ah gotten mahself into?*  
"Um...Kitty?"  
"Yeah?" She was impatiently tapping her foot.  
"Where are we goin'?"  
"Oh...you don't know? Scott didn't tell you?"  
Rogue jumped up. "SCOTT'S goin'? No he said we had 'plans'."  
Kitty snorted. "What a guy. We're going clubbing, like, dancing."  
"What?! HELL NO! Ah don't dance."  
Kitty turned and glared at her menacingly. "You WILL go with us and you WILL dance."  
Rogue sat down meekly. "Okay."  
Kitty beamed. "Good. Now then...I have something for you." She rummaged in her purse. "Here. DON'T lose it, and DON'T, like, flash it around. You didn't get it from me, it does not exist."  
It was a fake ID. Of Rogue. She was 21 and 2 months old. She was without make-up but she wasn't smiling. *This had to be taken a few days ago on that day Ah didn't have make-up--but how did she get one of these? Nahce, sweet, innocent Kitty? Well...talk about not judgin' a book bah its cover.*  
The door slammed open and Jean came in breathlessly. "Sorry I'm late, I had to get out of tutoring. What do we still need?"  
Rogue's mouth dropped open. "SHE'S goin' too?!"  
"Of course, wouldn't miss it," Jean said happily.   
"At a TWENTY-ONE--" Rogue's tirade was halted by Kitty's hand.  
"Shhh! Do you want us to get busted?" She whisper-yelled.  
Jean arched a perfectly shaped eyebrow. "Oh come on now, did you really think the professor would just let you go-he's a telepath, remember? He KNOWS, so I have to chaperone."  
*And of COURSE Ah bet you think it's just SUCH a chore.* Rogue shrugged. "Whatevah, let's just get on with the torture."  
"Shirts! We need a shirt!" Kitty pointed at the clothing piled on the floor. The two girls went to work and in no time had Rogue outfitted.  
"Now, go shower, wash your hair, CONDITION it, brush it, and then come back." Kitty shoved Rogue out of the door.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"I know they're girls and everything, but don't you think this is a bit much?" Kurt said as he restlessly paced the room.  
"Chill, it's all good. There is a direct relation to the amount of time girls spend on their appearance and how good they look. The more, the better." Ray, for once, was perfectly calm. Scott had suspected that this instance was a very familiar setting for him, and if anything should happen, Ray would be handy to have in hand. *Elf-boy shouldn't complain-the wait it ALWAYS worth the result.*  
Scott looked at the two boys. *And his abilities make him a better choice than anyone else...besides the fact that he can actually pass for 21-unlike just about everyone else here...I just hope Rogue doesn't completely flip out...if she does, and she loses control...let's just not think...about...whoa.*  
During his brief meditation Kitty and Jean had come down the stairs and a lone figure reluctantly descending the staircase caught his attention. Her auburn fell in silky waves to her hips, except for two white chunks that ended at her collarbone. Black clunky shoes were mostly covered by flared leather pants that had to have been painted onto her. Her hips peeked from above the top of the pants, attesting to her slimness. Her standard black leather belt studded with three rows of small square pyramids encircled her hips, more for decoration and an affirmation of where her musical ties and attitude lay than actually serving a functional purpose. Her shirt was a tight black low-cut muscle tank top with electric blue mesh sleeves that went down her arms, becoming fingerless gloves. The neckline was dotted with metal studs, and a cut-out left each shoulder bare, and trimmed the top of each sleeve in black to prevent rips and snags. A hand nervously ran through her hair, widening the inch and a half exposed strip of skin, revealing a silver hoop and ball through her navel. A large silver medallion with an engraved Celtic knot tied at the base of her neck with black satin cord caught the light as well. Instead of the usual purple lipstick and eyeshadow combination, a dark plum, almost black, eyeshadow was used to emphasize the outer corners of her eyes as a kind of liner. Dark red lipstick and gloss directed Scott's eyes to the perfect pout.   
*Oh great, they're all starin' somethin' awful...Ah look terrible, Ah'm not goin'.*  
Kitty laughed. "Like, guys, close your mouths. A fly might zoom in or something."  
Kurt was the first to leap to attention, offering Kitty his arm and walking out towards the car, giving her brown leather-encased derriere a glance as he followed her out of the door. *Gott in Himmel, it's amazing what an hour or two can do...and letting her hair down-she looks so much more mature...and sexy...and those pants...and there will be other guys there?! MY Kitty...*  
Ray had recovered and was now gallantly (for all intents and purposes) escorting Jean out of the door (read: checking out the back view of her tight black stretch pants and looking over her shoulder to peek down into her cleavage that was not really covered by the teal camisole and black button-up shirt that only had 2 buttons closed.). Scott and Rogue just stared at each other as Rogue slowly descended the stairs.  
"Uh...hah...they overdid it didn't they? Does it look that bad, Ah'll go change-" Rogue turned to go but Scott caught her wrist and gently pulled her closer.  
"It looks fine...you look...incredible," he said softly, staring down at her while seemingly absentmindedly stroking the back of her hand with his thumb. Rogue caught her breath, feeling little chills skittering up from her hand.  
*Oh, god...touching...feeling...how could Ah have missed this? Does he know what he's doing to me?* A slight blush tainted her cheeks.  
"Come on," Scott led her out of the door to the car. The night had only just begun. 


	18. Ah the joys of alcohol

AN: I'm still working out formatting issues-somewhere between me writing this and saving it and then uploading it, the format gets very screwed up.so.yeah.I KINDA fixed it on the last chapter, still trying to figure out what's wrong.until then.bear with me please.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Chapter Eighteen~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The bass thrummed in Rogue's chest, setting her heart beating strongly. *As if it already wasn't from nerves.talk about your adrenaline rushes.* She faltered as the line they were in got closer to the door.  
  
"Oh hell no, Rogue, you SOOO are not getting out of this. You are our masterpiece, and you are going to work it and have fun," Kitty grabbed her arm and dragged her to the waiting bouncer. "Hi," she said as she flashed a sunny smile and her fake ID.  
  
Rogue flashed it as well. After a heart-racing, anxiety-inducing minute, the bouncer nodded and Kitty and the crew went in, sweeping Rogue away with them. In two minutes, she was divested of her leather coat and hustled towards the dance floor where a mass of sweaty bodies twisted and turned under colored lights to loud hard trance music. Struggling with her budding panic, Rogue tried to move away from the mass.  
  
*Oh god, what if it slips, it's slipping, it's slipping.Ah can't hold onto it, Ah'll kill everyone, Ah have to leave!* She finally got to a quiet corner and, shaking, attempted to get control of her breathing.  
  
*Focus.in.out.there is only me.there are no problems.mah powers do not exist.they are off.there is no need to worry.*  
  
"Can I buy a beautiful woman a drink?" Rogue looked up to see Ray with a cocky smile on his face. Appreciating his efforts to cheer her up and effectively calm her down, she followed him to bar.  
  
"What do you want?"  
  
"Sex on the beach."  
  
He leered at her comically. "Well that can be arranged, pretty lady- ow, hey!" Rogue swatted lightly at his arm.  
  
"Thanks Ray.Ah appreciate it.now go talk to that girl, she's been eyein' you lak a piece of meat the last fahve minutes and Ah'm scared of the looks she's flashin' me."  
  
Rogue sat and drank her sex on the beach[1] rather quickly. The familiar sweet taste soothed her nerves and she sat, waiting for the buzz she hadn't experienced for quite a while. In the next ten minutes she ordered another one followed by a pina colada.[2] As she sucked the last drops of the pina colada through the straw the opening guitar line of Sinch's Something More began playing. She stood quickly, swaying a bit as the alcohol she had imbibed began to make its presence known. Rogue walked towards the dance floor, hips swaying, and began to dance.  
  
The worst is yet to come, so vulnerable and dumb say the words and I'll dissolve Tell me how long should this last I've been forgetting how to act and These memories will burn like gasoline  
  
Two pairs of eyes watched her, both intense and fiery. She gave herself into the music, arms raised and curved over her head, hair and hips swaying and she fluidly moved her body to the unconventional music that spoke to her.  
  
And I believe there's something more cause this isn't what I've been looking for If I blink my eyes I'm afraid I might miss some of it This makes no sense a mirage of an oasis but it kills my time  
  
She opened her eyes and thought she saw a silver crowned head with a fiery blue gaze staring hungrily at her. Her eyes blinked and it wasn't there. *Ah must be imagining things.* She closed her eyes and kept moving to the strains of music that twirled around her. There was only the music, only the singer's voice, she could practically feel his voice wrapping around her.no.that was someone's hand.on her hip. One on each hip, and that was someone's back pressed against hers, and her head was leaning back on someone's shoulder as their pelvis came flush with her bottom. Rogue was past caring-the vodka was blessedly taking effect, and it had been so long.she didn't even know what she wanted anymore. As long as she kept her eyes closed, it wouldn't matter, there was only the music, nothing mattered any more, this guy could be anyone she wanted it to be or nobody at all.  
  
Well try to remember what I sought, I never gave it that much thought Does it really matter at all, cause there really is no time for opening up my eyes Cause you know that I have seen it all before  
  
Pietro lowered his nose to Rogue's exposed neck and smelled her.forget-me- nots.she smelled like forget-me-nots. And something else.innocent.perhaps. The music was pounding in his chest, he gave himself into its primitiveness and joined Rogue as his lips lowered to her neck.  
  
And I believe there's something more cause this isn't what I've been looking for If I blink my eyes I'm afraid I might miss some of it This makes no sense a mirage of an oasis but it kills my time  
  
She felt hot.she was burning up, and it was stemming from her neck and going outwards. Then she felt the heat source moving and everything resolved itself. It was a mouth, a pair of lips she had only dreamt about doing the most delicious things to her neck. Her right arm bent as her hand came down on the back of the man's neck and tensed as he nibbled lightly, and then harder, sensing that she liked it. Pietro began to suck lightly on her neck, a few inches below her ear, then paused after a few moments to survey his handiwork. A whimper escaped her lips from the loss of the connection and he took his right hand and turned her head to sweep his lips across hers. Again liquid fire ran through Rogue's veins, and she hadn't a care in the world. She was floating in a sea of pleasure and warmth, caught in a seduction laid by an expert, and this time she was well and truly caught.  
  
Well I wish I could always feel this good, I wish that I could always feel this way, Wish I could always feel this good, wish that I could always know what's out there  
  
His tongue slipped out and tested to see how locked her lips were as he nibbled on her lower lip. At her gasp he took full advantage of the opening and in a flash began to explore this new territory. His tongue stroked hers wetly, hotly, expertly. She responded like the innocent, slowly, unsurely. She tasted sweet, of fruit and alcohol. He tasted of mint and chocolate with a slight hint of alcohol. In this moment the only thing she knew was this guy.not even that.she only knew how good this felt, and she could have wept for what she had almost missed because of her handicap. In her mind's eye, a flash of eyes painted over with red came into focus, then disappeared, leaving her momentarily confused when an answering flash of blue made itself known.  
  
Cause I believe there's something more, cause this isn't what I've been looking for If I blink my eyes I'm afraid I might miss some of it this This makes no sense a mirage of an oasis and it kills my time  
  
His other hand shifted up to move under her left breast and his thumb lightly stroked the underside of it, where it was heaviest and most full. Rogue moaned into Pietro's mouth and he smiled slightly, as if in victory.  
  
I wish I could always feel this good, I wish that I could always feel this way, I wish I could always feel this good, wish that I could be imitating the screen If you hate something then it goes away, if you hate something then just wait.  
  
The song began to end and with it Pietro began to end the kiss, opening his eyes to mere slits when something caught his eyes. He looked to the side to see his mirror image holding Rogue's image in his arms, bodies facing a mirror-or the wall covered in a wall-to-wall floor-to-ceiling mirror-heads turned kissing. Her head was wantonly leaning back on his left shoulder, his left hand almost-but not quite-on her breast, her hand holding his neck. Pietro inwardly smirked. *The Ice Queen finally melts.and how the mighty fall.she is so beautiful in her passion.and I look damn sexy.* Then he ended the kiss, and in less than a split second disappeared, leaving a very confused, slightly drunk, swollen- and red-lipped Rogue.  
  
*Where.who.what the fuck?* That was the best her eloquent brain could come up with. Then a tight grip landed on her wrist and she was abruptly turned to face a very, very angry Scott who pulled her off the dance floor to yet another conveniently unoccupied corner.  
  
"What THE FUCK was THAT all about?!?!"  
  
"What was what all about?"  
  
"THAT! You and Pietro practically having sex on the dance floor there! He's the ENEMY in case you've forgotten!" Scott let go of her as they reached the corner and she stumbled into him, her mind and vision off- balance. He caught and steadied her.  
  
"Pietro.? Wha.Scott?" Rogue looked blearily into his eyes, leaning into him in a vain attempt to regain some sense of coordination.  
  
His eyes narrowed. "How much alcohol did you drink? Who bought the drinks?"  
  
"Some? Ray.me.that was Pietro? Ah.Ah didn't know.Ah'm sorry.Ah-" Scott held a finger to her lips to halt the beginnings of her drunken babbling.  
  
"It's okay.it's obvious he was taking advantage of your current state."  
  
"Taking advantage?"  
  
Scott sighed and leaned his head against her forehead. "Yes. You're drunk, in case you haven't noticed. Approaching shit-faced. Your inhibitions are loosened, thus making you more susceptible to ideas like kissing him."  
  
"But..I'm.confused." Rogue tried to make sense of it all. *Heh.maybe Ah did overdo it a bit.it's lak peeling away layers of darkness that are sticky and hard to manage.or something.Ah feel lak Ah'm trahin' to crawl through jello.Scott looks really hot.* Over his shoulder, something caught her eye.it was a flash of silvery white. Pietro. He stood, dancing in the crowd of people, alone. Her eyes traveled his frame, taking in the black leather pants, the black sleeveless shirt that had various decorative straps and silver buckles on it, reminiscent of bondage pants. His arms gleamed, a slight golden hue that alternated between red and blue from the lights, their toned muscles flexing as he moved his arms, slowly drawing a hand through his hair. He turned his head and looked directly at Rogue, who let a breath escape from her parted lips. Then he turned his body and began to dance-for her. Running his hands along his body, gyrating. Rogue's eyes got rounder. *What the fuck? Wait-he's mine bitch!* The last thought being directed to the petite nameless brunette who began to dance with Pietro, much in the same manner she and Pietro had been dancing in before. Pietro bent to lick the brunette's neck, keeping eye contact with Rogue the entire time. Rogue gasped as the combined jealousy and desire swept through her, sending her already unsteady senses reeling again.  
  
"Rogue? Rogue are you even trying to listen to me at all?" Scott finally realized that her attention was directed over his shoulder, and turning, saw Pietro staring directly at his-no, not yet, just plain, normal, amazingly hot, sexy, vulnerable, innocent-Rogue. He frowned and looked at Rogue, and was temporarily blown away by the blatant look of desire on her face. *She has no idea that she is so easy to read.No.he won't corrupt her.she is too good for him.* Scott, being only a human man, could only resist the look on Rogue's face for so long.  
  
"Rogue?" He tilted her chin up to look at him, which she did, never changing her expression. He mentally groaned. "I'm sorry in advance." And with that Scott backed her up against the wall and lowered his lips to hers. Rogue greedily latched on, raising her arms and putting one hand in his hair, the other under his arm to reach up and cup on of his shoulder blades. His hands were on each of her hips, pulling her flush against him and his lips were moving firmly over hers, with hers, as he made the final move to complete the picture and slipped his tongue into the mix. He was a bit taken aback at the enthusiasm Rogue was displaying, but put it down to the alcohol and mind games Pietro was playing with her. Their tongues danced together, their hands were roaming, and their hips were gyrating against each other, subconsciously timing themselves and dancing with the music. Scott brought a hand up and gently stroked Rogue's neck, eliciting a slight gasp and moan from her. *A hot spot, hm? Well then.* He bent and saw the mark Pietro had left on her neck, and saw red-in more ways than the usual.[3] *Erase it. Erase him* was the one thought that echoed in his head. So he covered the spot and gently began to cover it with one of his own. Rogue's hands tightened and Scott shifted his hands to fully embrace her, holding her up as he suckled at her neck. Rogue's eyes flew open and she nearly shrieked when she felt a hand brush the underside of her breast. The hand hovered, then returned to the spot, cupping her breast and lightly running its thumb over her protruding nipple. In a brief moment of clarity Rogue saw the people in front of her clearly. Pietro was now more absorbed in the girl, although he had a look of mixed jealousy and desire on his face as he looked at Rogue, who tore her gaze away from him. She saw Jean and-Lance *?!* dancing, Lance behind Jean, as he brushed her hair away from her neck and began to unknowingly imitate Scott's actions. Jean threw her head back on his shoulder to allow him greater access and had one hand clutching his neck. Rogue didn't see where his other hand was. Kurt and Kitty were making out against the wall and Ray was seducing a girl against the other side of the dance floor. Scott's teeth lightly scraped her skin and her vision blurred again, her attention once more turned to the tall brunette who was returning his mouth to her neck. His hands moved to her butt, squeezed it once, then lifted her as her legs went around his waist, allowing him greater access to her mouth. Rogue's hands entangled themselves in his silky hair. Just when they were beginning to lose themselves in each other, one of the most disappointing sounds in the universe made itself known:  
  
"Alright ladies and gents, it's that time of night. It's two AM, and this is the last call for drinks. Repeat, it's the last call for drinks."  
  
Scott pulled away with effort and leaned his forehead on Rogue's. They stood there for a moment, breathing heavily, then Scott gently let Rogue slide to the ground and moved slightly away from her. Nanoseconds later Kitty bounced up to them with Kurt in tow, clearly tipsy and satisfied from her pseudo-carnal activities with Kurt, who, on the other hand, looked a bit frustrated.  
  
"Like, there you guys are! I totally thought you two had left or something, we couldn't find you.not that we were looking that hard or anything." As Kitty chattered on Scott deftly moved a few locks of Rogue's hair to cover the side of her neck. "Like, where are Ray and Jean?"  
  
Ray sauntered up just then, looking exactly like the proverbial cat who got the cream, and Jean made her way over, looking very frazzled, frustrated, and drunk.  
  
"Whoa, are you okay?" Ray put a hand under Jean's elbow as she wobbled a bit.  
  
"Holy shit, you're drunk. Ah can't believe YOU got DRUNK" was all Rogue could say.  
  
Jean tossed her head and attempted to glare at her, but failed. Then looked around puzzled as they all stared at her, open-mouthed.  
  
"What? Can't a girl attempt to have any fun without people staring at her like a bunch of lunatics?"  
  
"Where the hell did you get those-they look rather painful," Ray commented as he tilted her head up to get a better look at the very red, almost purplish lovebites on either side of her neck.  
  
Jean blushed, then pales, and covered her neck with her hands. "Not a clue," she said primly, pulling her hair forward again to cover them as she began to walk to the exit. She turned around.  
  
"Well aren't you coming, we have to be back by three and some of us need to sober up before Logan gets a whiff."  
  
Kitty squealed. "Ooo! Yeah 2 AM pizza!"  
  
Rogue went up and threw an arm over Jean's shoulder. "It's okay to be drunk you know. Ah am.so what's the story with you and Lance?" Jean whipped her head to the side to look at Rogue, an almost horrified look appearing on her face. Rogue chuckled. "Ah saw you two together.so," Rogue pulled her hair away from her neck, "Ah tell you about mahn[4] if you tell me about yours."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
AN: DONE! Finally.took me forever, revised it like 3 or 4 times.and I still don't like the ending so I may revise it again. But it's long, see? SEE? I wasn't wasting that much time.Oh, and I wrote most of this drunk or hungover so.yeah. Which is why it also took a long time. Heh.Many kisses to all of you who review, and an extra special thanks to Spitfire and cally, who constantly get on my case about updating! This chapter was for you!  
  
----------------------- [1] an alcoholic drink often called a "girly" or "chick" drink because it's sweet (and is pretty alcoholic); contains mostly peach schnapps and vodka (and some sort of fruit juice, can't remember at the moment, either peach or orange-a lot of mixed drinks with vodka have orange juice, dunno why they just do). [2] Exactly what it sounds like: a frozen drink that has pineapple and coconut in it.but if it's alcoholic it has a lot of rum too. [3] AN: Okay he sees red anyway but I think we all know what I mean right~ [4] mine 


	19. Darkness entwining in its tempting grip

AN: I'm feeling it . . . I'm feeling it . . . OH GOD IT'S COMING!!!! Divine inspiration you pervs, not THAT . . . although . . . it would be welcome . . . stupid bleeding uterus. *whips out a sword but is restrained* No! *sobs* It pains me! We don't wants it anymore. Takes it back! Right, anyway. I have just deleted 7 pages of this story and I'm feeling damn good about it. *laughs sadistically* It was the last two chapters.hopefully when I replace the chapters I won't lose reviews . . . but . . . if I do . . . it's ok . . . I guess . . . . *sniffles*. Anyway, here is me with like 12 hours of sleep under my belt and after the Marlins STOLE the win from the Cubs. Fucking sneaky bastards, it WAS 3-1, don't they know when to quit? It's OUR turn to win the World Series, goddammit! They should have just forfeited. I HATE THE MARLINS! Anyway, feel free to review, since this is now a whole new story . . . well, starting from chapter 18. =P  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter Nineteen ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Rogue opened her eyes and saw velvety blackness. She stood up rather quickly and swayed on her feet from the resulting rush of blood to her head. A hand came from the darkness to support her by her elbow and she spun around, shrieking when she saw a flash of red, but the shriek was muffled by a mouth-hot, wet, and demanding. Familiar arms, strong and comforting, wrapped around her, holding her hips, her neck as her head was tilted for better access. She was helpless to do anything other than respond. Her hands drifted up to hold strong shoulders as her knees began to buckle. The arms held her close, supporting her weight as the demanding mouth drew back from hers with a nibble on her lower lip.  
  
"Scott," she sighed as the darkness reclaimed her. A smirk appeared on the face of the man who held her as he heard her sigh his name, halfway to the land of Nod. He carried her from the armchair they had been sitting in to his bed, removed their shoes and his shirt, and curled up behind the girl - no - woman who had claimed his heart.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
The sunlight streamed down cheerily onto the sleeping couple. The man's hand slowly yet surely moved from the curve of the woman's hip up to cup her breast. He smiled at his good luck.  
  
"Ray, so help me God, you have two seconds to remove your hand from my body and your presence from my room before I send you through the nearest wall and convince you that you're a 6-year old girl who wants to be a ballerina."  
  
"Uh, sorry Jean," he gulped. *Dammit!*  
  
"Close the curtains on your way out, will you?" she murmured sweetly into her pillow.  
  
Within two seconds, the room was dark and empty of the offending male as Jean slept off what she privately considered the Worst Hangover in History.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Kitty snuggled into her pillow, rubbing her cheek against the soft fur and sighing contentedly as fingers gently stroked her hair. Kurt looked down at his sleeping angel in wonder as she cuddled even closer, thanking whatever god it was who had given him this chance to be loved and accepted for who he was.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Rogue opened her eyes slowly, blessing the room for having thick drapes that blocked most of the sun's light. She slowly sat up, putting a hand to her pounding head. *Ugh.* Two little white pills and a glass of water appeared under her nose. She stared at them, perplexed in her half- waking state, before slowly looking up to an expressionless Scott. She looked back at the pills and slowly reached for them.  
"Everything seems to be in slow motion this morning," Rogue said. Scott's mouth twitched. She took the pills and swallowed them.  
"Thanks," she said with a smile. She lay back down and fell asleep almost instantly, not even realizing it was not her room that she slept in. Scott let a soft smile cross his face as he looked down at her before he put the glass on the nightstand and got under the covers and pulled her close, loving the feel of her long, silky hair against his naked chest, and the feel of her soft curves in his arms. He nuzzled the back of her neck.  
*Mine.*  
  
THIS IS THE CURRENT BUT TEMPORARY END OF THE STORY THE NEXT CHAPTER HAS YET TO BE REVISED SO IF YOU READ IT, BE ADVISED THAT I HAVE NOT YET REPLACED IT. THE STORY CURRENTLY ENDS HERE. There is no chapter 20. That other thing does not exist. PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE CHAPTER BEHIND THE CURTAIN.  
  
AN: Yeah, sorry it's so short, I just wanted to put SOMETHING up. And this basically gets rid of chapter nineteen, which was important, and allows me to pull whatever I want to with the story. Woohoo. But expect big updates around Thanksgiving. My characters are slowly but surely starting to wake up and the creative juices are beginning to replenish themselves. 


	20. And here we are again Author's Note

This is merely a large, but somewhat important message from your author:  
  
Okay, because there have been so many outcries against the last chapter, I feel that I need to clarify something. Lots of the Scogue fans out there are extremely upset with me and felt they have been set up and betrayed or that I was dishing out false hope. Just because Rogue in the last chapter had sex with Pietro means NOTHING. I just wanted to make some complications because the direction I saw it going in was getting predictable. This was just to throw you some loops, which I was hoping you'd enjoy, but I guess I was wrong. *wry grin* Anyway, those of you who think there is no hope left or whatever, please do NOT think that because that chapter was by no means the end of the story. I think, however, I can say it's a halfway point. THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT THIS WILL BE A SCOGUE, NOR DOES IT MEAN THAT IT WILL BE A RIETRO. I AM STILL LEAVING IT UP IN THE AIR. I hope that you will all still continue to read this, because I mean for this to be a fic for EVERYONE, and the reason that the flavor continually changes is my (obviously poor) attempt to make it likable for everyone, and it also reflects who I'm partial to at the time. I wanted a very sexual chapter, and I thought that based on how I had written it thus far, Pietro was the best choice. You may disagree, but this sets it up better for what I had planned.  
  
I appreciate the comments from those who have been not so . . . how to say this . . . emotional? hurt? by this last chapter. They were quite good and they pointed out a few things I had not taken into consideration. There will NOT be 2 endings, I intend to end this in one way, and one way only. If you wanted to be the other way around, mentally switch names around or something (sorry but I'm really too lazy to write 2 endings and whoever said it, I agree that it takes away from the story).  
  
To those who want Remy to appear, sorry. I started writing this before Remy appeared, and it will continue in that way. For all intents and purposes, the last season never happened (which works because I only saw the first 2 or 3 episodes of it =P). I MAY write a fic in the future that's Romy or whatever you're calling it, but until then, sorry, this is a triangle, not a square. There will not be a sequel to this story, just to further assure the end stays the end. There may be a side story (that won't be as long because I have several ideas for other stories I'd like to pursue but I feel that I owe you readers quite a bit so I'm sticking with this) for a certain occurrence in chapter 18 (if you can't guess then read it again, it deals with the fact that I removed a certain redhead from Scott's lovelife-not a normal pairing, but it fits within the universe of this fanfic). Anyway, I hope this puts some of your anger and hurt to rest, I DO intend to continue the story, and when I post the next chapter, I will replace this note with it, so it will still read as 21 chapters, instead of 22 (I think this is the 21st chapter, right?). Anyway, feel free to reply to this, and remember, NOTHING is set in stone except what has already occurred. As always, I deeply thank you for your reviews. And remember, that no matter how I end this fic, it is because I want it to have a logical plot, not to end it for the sake of ending it or for the sake of making the majority of readers happy. Not everything has happy endings. (Again note that this does not point to any particular couple. Thank you.) Thank you for your time and reading this and please don't be so upset anymore! I don't like seeing my readers upset!  
  
~skye 


	21. I hear voices

AN: So . . . even though it was with Pietro (or maybe BECAUSE it was with Pietro) I hope you liked my first attempt at a sex scene. Right, so you must all be pretty excited since there's another chapter coming up after my usual bout of senseless ramblings . . . assuming anyone actually reads these. I've just finished my finals (which is why I've been gone, been very very very busy doing last-minute projects and exams and whatnot, school bites), so I really have no excuse to not be updating starting today (I'm still unpacking though, I've only unpacked half of my stuff, can't wait till I move into an apartment), except more writer's block. I hope that this chapter explains the actions of Rogue/Pietro last chapter, I got a massive flame, I almost cried *sniffle* but it was a really good one, so whoever you are, thanks for flaming me, cuz I realized that I kind of jumped ahead of myself chapter-wise. It all made sense in my head, but I kind of forgot to lead up to the next point, since I had done it mentally (I assumed everyone was on the same page). SO, right, hope that made sense. If not, just read the chapter. This is a THOUGHTFUL chapter. I think (hope) this BIG MISUNDERSTANDING was cleared up (with all the Scogue people wanting to kill me and whatnot). *cringes* I hope I didn't lose too many readers! Anyway, thanks for your continued support.  
  
Disclaimer: standard disclaimers apply. I own shit.  
  
If you read the last chapter, just skip past the summary, look for the Chapter Twenty heading.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~NON-GRAPHIC CHAPTER 19 SUMMARY~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
IMPORTANT: If you skipped the last chapter, here is your brief, PG-13/R, but non-graphic summary-scratch that, it's definitely R:  
  
Rogue had sex with Pietro in the woods when he caught her at a vulnerable moment.  
  
If that's not good enough . . . sorry, I hate summaries =P Read this chapter and you get the picture, or read the last one and stop when it gets too graphic.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter Twenty ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The room was empty but for a figure lying on her bed, staring at her ceiling, enjoying the solitude. Music played softly in her ears courtesy of headphones, and a memory abruptly flashed in her wandering mind.  
  
~Flashback~  
  
A voice sounded next to her ear, low and soft.  
  
"Hello, Rogue." The voice was velvety, and reminiscent of chocolate.  
  
The hot air from his mouth blew against her ear, and his lips brushed the shell of it. Rogue barely suppressed a shudder as she closed her eyes.  
  
"Why don't you just give in Rogue? What are you holding out for?" Now it sounded from her other side. Rogue whipped her head around, but saw nothing. She stood up and clenched her fists.  
  
"What do you want?" She asked the air.  
  
An amused chuckle answered her. She could not pinpoint the source.  
  
"I should have thought that it was obvious." His voice was doing delicious things to her insides, and she fought to keep her composure.  
  
"I want you."  
  
"Why? Because Ah'm your greatest challenge? Ah'm not an idiot. Ah know that you want a roll in the hay. Why don't you ask one of your groupies?" Rogue asked in a disgusted voice.  
  
"No." The strength in his voice stopped her mid-turn, halting her departure.  
  
"You don't see it, do you? You've lived in a shell your entire life, and you don't see it. How we protect you, stand up for you? Nobody touches you, nobody bothers you---do you know why? Because of me. Because of the Brotherhood. You belong to us---to me. You are mine."  
  
~End Flashback~  
  
Rogue turned over. *Ugh. Ah don't belong to anyone, thank you very much. Arrogant jerk, taking advantage of me. Ah was still drunk . . . well . . . tipsy.*  
  
It's not like you didn't want it, an insidious little voice whispered.  
  
"Ah did not!" Rogue said crossly, folding her arms and sitting back against her pillows. She scowled at a bird that was happily chirping outside her window.  
  
Then why didn't you stop him?  
  
"Ah . . . Ah don't know. He . . . he's very persuasive."  
  
You didn't take much convincing.  
  
"Ah couldn't help it! Ah was buzzin' from the alcohol, and Ah was confused. Ah still don't understand how it happened. One minute Ah was kissing him at the club, the next Ah'm with Scott, then Ah was just so confused Ah had to get out of that damn house. Ah felt so trapped. Ah needed out, to think. Not lak that worked."  
  
Does that justify having sex with him?  
  
"Well . . . no . . . but . . . it's all Ah've ever wanted. To be able to touch someone, to want them and know they want me, to be held and to hold. He makes me feel . . . desirable. Beautiful."  
  
~Flashback~  
  
"You are mine, don't forget that," he said fiercely, and then he was gone, and there wasn't a trace of him.  
  
~End Flashback~  
  
"Ah know he only wants me, and he's a possessive asshole. It's not lak it's gonna go anywhere. Pietro? In a relationship? Don't make me laugh. Ah wasn't looking for anything deeper. Ah just wanted . . . Is it so wrong to want to be in someone's arms?"  
  
All she received was silence. *Yeah, that's right, stupid conscience. Shut the hell up. Ah can deal with this on mah own.*  
  
Even among mutants, talking to yourself is not 'normal.'  
  
"Shove it."  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
The wind caressed his features, threading its fingers through his hair. He abruptly stopped at the edge of a cliff somewhere in North America and frowned. He couldn't get her out of his head. Every time he closed his eyes, her image danced tantalizingly on his eyelids, just out of reach. It didn't make any sense. She was his now, he had possessed her, had taken her. Another virgin who had succumbed to his skills. This . . . lingering attraction -- *not obsession, attraction,* he told himself - must be the result of waiting. Yes, that was it.  
  
"I am Pietro Maximoff. I do NOT love," he sneered. Silence reigned.  
  
"I do not like, and I do not feel. I fuck. I seduce. I satisfy myself by whatever means are available." For some reason this declaration felt empty to him. *Where did this connection spring from? Was it because they had been teammates - housemates, even?* He relaxed, and his shoulders lowered themselves. Yes, of course. That must be it. Lingering awkwardness from his former feelings of team comraderie and whatnot. Pietro ignored the little voice that whispered Rogue's name with terms of endearment. He pretended he didn't feel an odd tug when he saw her, naked, burned on his eyelids. He steadfastly focused his thoughts on his next conquest, not even registering the flashes of her face as he thought of other women. For some reason, none of them seemed to catch his interest.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
He sat on the grass, his back to a tree, staring at the sun through his sunglasses. His eyes nearly burned with their intensity and power (AN: Scott draws his powers from the sun, taking that from old school X-Men cartoon, sorry, on with it!). With a small sigh he closed his eyes. Unbidden, memories sprang to mind. The way her body had felt in his hands. Her lips upon is. The taste of her neck. How she tried to get as close as possible to him while she was sleeping. How, when she concentrated, her lips pursed outwards and the tip of her tongue stuck out of the corner of her mouth, making her look irresistibly cute. He sighed again and banged the back of his head against the tree. He hadn't meant to go that far the previous night. He felt like a heel, like he had taken advantage of her.  
  
*I couldn't help it. When I saw Pietro on her, I snapped. He's so unclean. He can't possibly appreciate her the say I do.* He kicked the ground in front of him and scowled. *One day, he'll get what's coming to him. A nice big optic blast up the ass. I won't let him taint her. She's much too innocent, too pure.*  
  
He sat for a while longer, mentally berating himself for being a "crass asshole." *I'll just apologize the first chance I get . . . maybe I should take her out too. Two birds with one stone. Ha! Fantastic plan Summers, I knew there was a reason you were the leader!* With that thought, he got up, dusted his pants off, and strode towards the mansion.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
AN (again): I would like to add that I have started a new fic, the first chapter of it is up. Wait, before you say anything, I KNOW I'm still writing this one, yadayadayada, but I had the BEST idea for a closing scene so I HAD to start a new fic. I'm TRYING to hold off on the next chapter until the next book comes out but I may not. (Also I felt bad about updating that one before this one, I'm trying to finish but this stupid thing doesn't want to, it's like a soap opera, it will still be going on 10 years from now like General Hospital or The Young and the Restless.) It's Harry Potter fanfiction, which is why none of you have seen it . . . unless you read HP fanfiction, in which case you might have. So if you want to pop on over to that and give it a read and review, I'd be extremely grateful.  
  
As always, reviews are welcome. Flames will be used to make toast. 


	22. Bad news

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Yes, another dreaded author's note. I'm truly sorry about this but I am temporarily (please take note of the TEMPORARILY) putting this story on hold. This semester I simply don't have the time to work on it, since I'm taking the maximum amount of hours (yeah, stupid idea, I know, but it will pay off later when I have fewer classes to take if I get far enough ahead). There is another problem. I am sick of this story. I spent an entire week in the middle of nowhere in Minnesota in a cabin thinking about this story, after I'd already spent the entire summer trying to crank out the next chapter. All drafts of the next chapter have been absolutely terrible, and I'm afraid I have the worst mind block of the century. I'm taking the break not only because of college, but because I'm hoping a break will give me a fresh outlook on the story, which I may revise since I haven't been particularly proud of anything since the end of the club scene. To all of you who have read this far, I thank you so much for your reviews and your support, you have no idea how much your reviews have meant to me (even if it was yelling at me to get my butt in gear and put out the next chapter).  
  
So in conclusion, now that you know the story may change . . . a lot . . .well, not a lot, but look for changes starting in late November (aka Thanksgiving Break, which for me is a week long), which is when I intend to put up the next chapter, which may actually replace a current chapter . . . if that makes sense . . . if it doesn't, just think of the club scene as the current "end" of the story (not really an end, but where I intend to continue from, replacing the other chapters and authors notes as I go on).  
  
If you ever have any ideas on what you would like to see, even scenes that you'd like to see in a fanfic, please feel free to post them on the review board or to email them to me, my email is on my profile, but if you're lazy, it's ktmarie@mac.com. As long as these scenes are actually somewhat detailed (I'm talking about "I want to see Scott take Jean into the woods and having a wild passionate study session" versus "I want to see Rogue and Remy get together") I'd seriously consider sticking them in the story. Outside opinions/desires/fantasies are always welcome. I like to hear your preferences, but I'd rather hear specific ideas. And for all the Rogue/Remy shippers out there, I'm sorry but Remy is not in my story. My story starts somewhere in the middle of season 2 and takes off on a tangent from there, so it's technically AU. There is no Remy, or any of the others who came into the series starting at the last episode of season 2. It's the "core" characters and the newer X-men. That's it. Sorry. So please don't ask to have Rogue paired with Remy, because it's simply NOT going to happen. He doesn't exist. I ate him.  
  
Anyway, if you're still reading this I'd just like to reiterate: Rogue/whoever is still up in the air, I'm taking a break until November, send me ideas, criticism, or whatever. Yell at me, it's fine (hey at least it means you read this! =P). Feel free to contact me on AIM or by email. If you ever have any requests (and I'm not just talking about X-Men Evo, I'm talking about anime as well), feel free to send them to me, I love hearing what ideas other people have for stories, especially if you don't want to write them, I will. Maybe I'll get an idea for Kind by Moonlight, eh?  
  
Yours in extreme gratitude for your support, Grey (formerly known as Skye) 


End file.
